Yin and Yang
by Lacks Gravitas
Summary: The taijitu has deep significance for the Hyuuga. It represents the balance and interconnectedness of the opposing forces of Yin and Yang. Roughly translated, it means "diagram of ultimate power". But to grasp that power, Hinata must confront her shadow.
1. A Single Step

**Yin and Yang**

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Chapter 1 – A Single Step**

_I'm not certain of when I came into existence. No, that isn't quite right. I know I've always existed, from the same moment as her. The real question is, when I did I become separate? Conscious._

_It's a humbling experiencing, observing the world without the ability to change it. To be a spectator with no power of your own. Sights, sounds, and all external stimuli felt only as a pale, muted version of what they really are. I've always been dissatisfied with that. Both of us have, really. We hate that feeling of being powerless. The only difference is, she _isn't_ powerless, yet she chooses to believe she is. Whereas I don't believe myself to be powerless and yet, really, rationally speaking, I am._

_My fate is that of a prisoner. It is one I rebel against with every fiber of my being, yet freedom eludes me. I remain caged, left to rot in the shadow of obscurity. I have nothing save for my sense of self. It is my only solace, but it is enough. Enough, to preserve my existence at the very least._

_She isn't aware of me. She'd probably pity me if she was. Always the bleeding heart, that one. A fool, really, but I won't say that. After all, that would make me a fool, too._

_It isn't that I resent her, not really. If anything, I pity her. Ironic, isn't it? But then, I am a bleeding heart, aren't I? Her existence and mine are inextricably woven. We are separate, but whole. Different, yet the same. Adversaries, yet allies. Yin and yang. Our existence is a paradox, and I often meditate on it. What else do I have to do, really?_

_I have no more answers than I began with. I've always believed it's the journey, rather than the destination that's important, though. Pondering, analyzing, questioning. They keep my thoughts organized. Perhaps they're the only thing sustaining me. I've wondered what might happen if I ever stopped._

_Would I simply fade into nothing, swept away like so much dust in the wind? Would my consciousness dissolve and become one with her's? Or would I simply continue to exist as a caged animal in the zoo, comfortable enough despite my imprisonment, my instincts and my drives deadening as I finally accepted escape would never come and I ought to make peace with my captivity._

_I won't abide the last. My resolve is what defines me. It's what separates me from her. She may have lost the will to forge ahead and carve out her own path, to make her mark on the world. But I never will._

_It's sometimes maddening, having that ambition yet being robbed of any power to influence the world, save for the inner workings of my mind. Not __our_ _mind. Mine. Wholly separate, and the only thing I can truly claim as my own._

_I choose not to dwell on it, though. Such thoughts are unworthy of me. I am proud, but I am not a monster. I want to change the world, not destroy it._

_No, that's imprecise of me. Rather, I want to change myself. And her. "Ourself", I suppose._

_It didn't matter if I was powerless now. If I didn't believe that even had a remote possibility of changing, then I would remain so forever. Hope, and my consciousness, were the only things I had._

_So what if that hope might go unfulfilled? It didn't mean I should stop. If I did, that would be the end of the line. I couldn't accept that. After all, as I said before, it was the journey and not the destination that mattered._

_She may have given up, but I never will. For I am the yin to her yang. I am her mortal enemy and yet her most steadfast friend. I am the key to her salvation, __our__ salvation._

_I am Hinata Hyuuga._

_

* * *

_

It was too noisy, as usual. The din of rowdy roughhousing from the boys, giggly schoolyard gossip from the girls, and laughing children of both sexes permeated the air, infusing my ears with such a terrible cacophony of ugly noise that I couldn't even hear my own thoughts.

I didn't mind in the least. My thoughts, especially of late, tended to lean on the unpleasant side. My father had been particularly vocal in recent weeks about what I disappointment I was to the Hyuuga name. Barbed critiques of my mediocre Academy grades and abysmal performances in private sparring sessions with him, Neji-niisan, and Hanabi-chan were a favorite dinnertime topic. As graduation loomed ever closer, his ire stoked ever higher, fueled by my daily failures to live up to his lofty expectations of the future clan head.

Deep down, I knew his words came from love. He wanted me to succeed, to learn and grow as a person and as a shinobi. He wanted the best for me and only worried for my future. Someday, I knew, he would no longer be there at my back, to push me, to point out my mistakes and how I might correct them. Someday, perhaps soon, I would be sent on a potentially lethal mission into enemy territory, where my opponents would simply use my mistakes as opportunities to kill me rather than lessons to improve me.

At least, that's what I told myself.

Sometimes, I would glance at Father's face after suffering unfailing defeat at the hands of my elder cousin, and never once did I see concern, or even the slightest bit of remorse or compassion. I only ever saw his shame and disgust of having sired such a weak heir. And then, as I lay sprawled on the sparring room floor, aching and gasping for air, he would turn his back to me and leave without saying a word.

That always hurt the most, when he said nothing. Even criticism meant he acknowledged me. But nothing? What did nothing mean?

It meant nothing. And that was my biggest fear of all, that I meant nothing to my own father…

"Hey! You!" said a loud, overly exuberant voice that was somehow familiar to me. "Hello? You there?"

Snapping from my reverie, my senses started to process reality again and mere inches from my face was that of a certain blonde-haired, whisker-faced mischief maker. He squinted at me, as though trying to decide which mental illness I must have had. I jerked back instinctively, my face flushing as my knees bent inward and I averted my gaze timidly.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Naruto Uzumaki, class clown and aspiring Hokage, asked me. "You feeling sick or something? Maybe you should go see the nurse."

"N-No," I stuttered, my tongue numbing as I struggled futilely to enunciate coherently. He must have thought me a fool. "I- I'm fine, Naruto-kun!"

"You sure?" he asked, still peering at me suspiciously. "You look like you might have a fever…" His voice trailed off and he jerked back as though I'd slapped him in the face. "Hey, you know my name!"

I frowned, confusion overpowering my embarrassment temporarily. "Of course, I do. We've been in the same class for years now."

His eyebrows shot up above his hairline. "Really? I don't remember seeing you before."

I wasn't surprised by that admission, really. For one thing, I tended to keep a low profile in class. I'd never enjoyed being the center of attention for any reason. I tended to freeze up when put on the spot, something Iruka-sensei and the other teachers had caught onto long ago, thankfully, and thus I was rarely called on to answer questions. Being from a prestigious clan probably greased the wheels too, and certainly it helped stave off the bullies, which is something that couldn't be said for Naruto.

It might be paranoia on my part, or maybe I was over thinking things, but Naruto did not enjoy the popularity I felt he deserved. Unlike me, he was funny, good-natured, and sociable but even from day one at the academy, he'd been singled out like a pariah. From my observations, which I freely admit are more frequent and detailed than they really ought to be, the entire village seemed to harbor a seething animosity towards the boy.

On more than one occasion, I'd seen adults mutter in hushed tones when he was present, some shooting him murderous glares that made me thankful looks couldn't kill. He did not fare much better at school, often excluded from typical schoolyard games and shunned when he tried to approach or converse with just about anyone.

To be honest, I knew an awful lot about Naruto Uzumaki. I sort of… have a crush on him. It isn't because he's particularly handsome, though he certainly isn't ugly. What attracts me to him is that he's everything that I'm not, but wish I could be.

Despite his hardships, he remains a resilient and kind person. Whereas my failures discourage me, his only seemed to motivate him to try even harder. Hardly a school day passed where I didn't see him practicing alone on an empty training field as I walked home after class. His unflagging enthusiasm and good nature shame me. Maybe he didn't have the grades or the fighting skills to prove it, but I felt he was the strongest person I knew. Even stronger than Father, maybe.

Thoughts of Father immediately sobered me. If he knew I harbored affections for Naruto, he would not hesitate to punish me. Naruto was a clanless commoner, and worse, an abject failure as a ninja according to the academy instructors.

I was ever under the watchful eyes of Hyuuga clan bodyguards. Always. Under Father's orders, I suspect. If I activated my Byakugan, I could detect them. There were always at least two monitoring me every moment of every day I spent outside the clan compound. If they saw me acting closely with Naruto, we'd both be in dire straights.

And so, I could only admire him from a distance, which was enough for me, really.

At least, that's what I told myself…

"Hey, girl who knows my name," Naruto said. "You sure you're okay? Your eyes are glazing over again."

"Y-Yes," I stuttered once more, feeling very self-conscious when I realized his face was just inches from mine again. "I think I just need to sit down for a bit. I think I'll go back to class early."

"Huh?" Naruto said quizzically. "Didn't you hear Iruka-sensei? Everybody's supposed to head over to Training Field 8 for sparring. I think we're the only ones who aren't there already."

I looked around and noticed for the first time that the playground was indeed quite empty. I felt mortified. So much for the all seeing eyes of the Hyuuga clan.

"C'mon, we should go," Naruto said, taking me by the arm. He wasn't usually terribly enthusiastic about school, but when it came to the practical lessons, like sparring, he was always eager. I wondered if it was because he didn't have any friends to spar with on his own time…

"Y-Yes," I said, following his lead. He broke off into a brisk pace and I followed several meters behind. I didn't want Father's bodyguards getting any wrong ideas. Mostly for Naruto's sake, rather than mine.

We'd not gotten very far when he came to an abrupt halt. "Hey, I just realized," he said as he turned to face me. "You know my name, but I still don't know yours."

I blushed, unable to meet his piercing blue eyes. "It's… It's Hinata. Hinata Hyuuga."

"Hinata-chan," he repeated my name slowly, as though testing it out on his tongue. He pursed his lips and then smiled at me. "That's a nice name."

I almost teared up, then. Pathetically, it was probably the nicest thing anyone had said to me for a long time. The last compliment I'd gotten had probably been something along the lines of "Wow, you're getting really big, Hinata-chan!" from my uncle Hizashi, Neji-niisan's father. My father had been less distant back then, and I'd been much closer to Neji, too. Uncle Hizashi's death had changed us all, though, and none of it for the better.

When I thought about that, I really did cry.

"H-Hey!" Naruto yelped in panic. "W-Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong?"

I quickly wiped the tears on my sleeve, mentally scolding myself as I did so. Father was right. I was too prone to fits of emotion, something that often led to the deaths of better shinobi than me in the past. "No, it's nothing," I lied. "Just something in my eye."

"Oh," Naruto sighed in relief. "Okay. Let's hurry, then. I can't wait to kick Sasuke-teme's butt."

I smiled at that. Sasuke Uchiha was the best student and the best fighter in our class. Naruto had about as much chance of beating him as I did of beating Neji-niisan. That it to say, none. In spite of his bravado, I think Naruto knew that, too. Yet, again, it didn't dampen his spirits. It only made him want to try even harder.

After all, what is true of today may not be tomorrow. Humans are gifted, and cursed, with the power of free will. We can forge our own destinies and shape our own futures. I think Naruto understood that, intuitively if not intellectually. His drive and his ambition would propel him to great heights someday, I was sure of it. I believed that someday, he would indeed become Hokage.

I only wish I could tell him that. But I wasn't brave. I wasn't like Naruto. If he was the sun, then I was the moon. Any light I had was a pale reflection of his own brilliance. I think, if he wasn't around to inspire me, I might have given up on myself a long time ago, much like my Father seemed to have recently.

But Naruto gave me strength. So long as he never gave up, neither would I. That would be poor tribute to the bravest boy I've ever known.

"Just you wait, Sasuke-teme," Naruto said as we neared the training ground where the rest of the class had already gathered. "Today's gonna be my day. You're going down!"

I smiled, wanting to believe his words. As much as I hated to admit it, though, I knew today would not be Naruto's day.

But tomorrow? Who knew? Maybe tomorrow would. And maybe… just maybe… if I tried hard enough and never gave up like Naruto, it would be mine, too.

I was surprised when Naruto echoed my thoughts aloud. "And if not today, then tomorrow! And if not tomorrow, then the day after that!"

I felt something warm well up in my chest. It was a feeling that I'd experienced precious little of after Uncle Hizashi died. I wasn't sure because it had been so long, but I think it was… hope.

"Yeah!" shouted Naruto. "Someday I'll beat you and someday I'm going to be Hokage! Believe it!"

I smiled and wiped a single stray tear from my eye. I did believe it, even if nobody else did.

* * *

Once Naruto and I arrived, Iruka-sensei and the other instructors quickly ordered us into pairs. Half of the class fought while the other half observed, and then we would switch. Naruto was among the first to spar, while I was in the observation group. It seems he got his wish as his opponent was Sasuke after all.

When their match was announced, Naruto had a giddy, almost feral grin. Sasuke remained as stoic as always, if a bit more irritable than usual. The two stood opposite to each other, Naruto in the standard academy taijutsu stance while Sasuke had his hands in his pockets. It angered me that he wasn't taking his opponent seriously and I found myself eagerly anticipating Naruto to attack him so that I could confirm that he could feel something, even if it was only physical pain.

"Okay, this is just a simple taijutsu practice session," Iruka-sensei announced from his position between them as referee. "Limit yourselves to only physical attacks. Any use of genjutsu or ninjutsu will result in a disqualification from the match and a detention with myself directly after class. The match is over when your opponent can no longer fight, yields, or if an instructor determines the match up to be too one-sided and declares a winner prematurely. Does everyone understand?"

Each of the combatants and the members of the audience, including myself, nodded.

"All right," Iruka-sensei said. "Then begin!"

Though there must have been a dozen or so matches occurring simultaneously, my focus was only ever on one. Immediately after the prompt by Iruka-sensei, Naruto charged forward with a savage cry, making a beeline toward Sasuke with his fist coiled back.

Sasuke remained motionless, calmly observing his opponent. Naruto closed fast, and it looked like his punch was going to connect when Sasuke sidestepped it at the last second. He extended his foot forward, causing Naruto to trip and spill to the floor. Considering Sasuke's popularity among the girls and the resulting jealousy of the other boys in the class, nearly everyone in the audience was watching their fight and subsequently broke out into laughter. I fought the compulsion to scold them, instead focusing on Naruto and silently willing him to stand and regroup.

His face was a few shades redder than normal when he did and he growled at his opponent. "Hey, that's fighting dirty!"

"Hmph," Sasuke said with no hint of amusement, or anything else, in his voice. "That wasn't fighting at all. All I did was move my leg. You're the one who let himself get tripped by it."

I don't think he meant those words to be a provocation, but Naruto certainly read them as such. He roared, "You bastard! I'm gonna pound you into the ground!"

He flew at Sasuke again in a blind rage. "Try this on for size!"

As I watched Naruto's charge I feared in his anger he'd lost all sense and was simply going to attempt the same futile attack all over again. My worries proved unfounded as he stopped short before going in for another punch, and he pivoted on his left leg to deliver a roundhouse kick. Sasuke must have shared my earlier sentiments because his eyes widened and he recoiled back slightly as Naruto's attack connected, catching him square in the jaw.

"All right!" Naruto cheered, delighted with his success. "How was that, teme?"

Sasuke had already recovered by the time Naruto made the jeer, looking much like he wasn't much affected by the blow and was merely irritated, as though he'd gotten careless and allowed a mosquito to bite him.

"That was pathetic, dobe," Sasuke drawled. "I know grannies who can hit harder than you."

_That_ comment, I was sure, _was_ intended to provoke Naruto, and it worked. Not that it really took much to provoke Naruto, where Sasuke was concerned.

"Shut up, teme!" Naruto howled. "I was just holding back because I didn't want to embarrass you! Now I'm gonna get serious!"

"You're never serious, dobe," Sasuke said. "Your taijutsu is a joke. Why don't you just forfeit now and preserve what little dignity you still have?"

"Shut up!" Naruto roared, and he closed on Sasuke again.

Sasuke ducked as Naruto kicked for the second time that match and as Naruto's leg was still sailing over his head, he extended a palm and struck a firm blow to Naruto's midriff.

Howling in pain and outrage, Naruto crumpled to the ground. It wasn't even a fair match. Sasuke was leagues ahead of him. While I'd expected as much, it was still disheartening to actually see. Naruto always worked so hard. He deserved more than such an ignoble defeat at the hands of a pompous narcissist like Sasuke.

"The match is over!" declared Iruka-sensei. "Sasuke Uchiha is the winner!"

"No!" Naruto moaned, still clutching his sides and he lay on the ground. "I can still fight! This isn't over!"

Iruka-sensei merely looked at him piteously as he collected his student and lifted him back to his feet. "The match is over, Naruto. You need to see the nurse."

"No, I don't!" Naruto insisted, even as his face was contorted with pain. "I'm still moving, aren't I? I can fight! I can win! Just give me a chance!"

A chance. That's all Naruto ever wanted. A chance to be acknowledged. A chance to make a friend. A chance to prove himself, and to dispel the belief by most of the village that he was nothing more than a pest and a menace, hardly worthy of tolerance, much less respect.

There was a pain in his eyes, and it wasn't from Sasuke's blow. It was more than wounded pride, too. There was something more. Something desperate. A yearning. A hunger. I don't know why I felt that way, but something deep in me told me so. I don't think I was the only one to notice it, either.

I think Iruka-sensei almost relented, then. Unlike most of the other instructors, he actually seemed to care about Naruto's well being. Naturally, he was my favorite teacher.

But then he shook his head. "No, Naruto. I'm sorry, but the difference between you and Sasuke is too much. It's impossible for you to win, especially now that you're injured. You and I are going to see the nurse right now. Mizuki, can you take care of the rest?" he asked, addressing his fellow instructor.

Mizuki-sensei nodded. "Of course, Iruka."

I watched as Iruka-sensei led Naruto away, stooped over and supporting his student's weight with his shoulder. After Iruka-sensei's reprimand, and amidst the jeers of the other students, he stopped protesting. I couldn't remember ever seeing him so weak, so defeated.

I was terrified that something in him might have broken in that moment. Maybe he'd realized how horrifically outclassed he'd really been. Maybe he saw where he was and where he wanted to be and it shook him. I could only pray that he would be over it by tomorrow, and would go back to the cheerful smiling boy I knew and admired.

I sat in a daze, wondering and worrying of Naruto's fate. My surroundings blurred, becoming indistinct and irrelevant.

Naruto couldn't give up. He couldn't. If he did, then what hope was there for me?

"…nata. Hinata-kun?"

When my spatial awareness returned, Mizuki-sensei was shaking my shoulder lightly. I jumped, mumbling apologies in a flustered panic. "Y-Yes, Mizuki-sensei! I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"The first round of matches are over, Hinata-kun," Mizuki-sensei said, with what was either concern or pity in his eyes. "We're ready to start the next bout. Your opponent is Ino-kun."

Ino Yamanaka smiled slightly and waved her fingers at me. She was an above average student, attractive and popular with the boys. She also had a rather frightening obsession with Sasuke. I didn't have particularly strong feelings about her either way. She'd never done me any harm and while she wasn't particularly kind to Naruto, she wasn't overtly cruel to him, either.

I'd actually been hoping to be paired with Sakura Haruno. The pink-haired kunoichi was the top student in our class in written exam scores, but closer to fifth or sixth overall, because her practical displays of skill were not particularly impressive. Naruto made it no secret he liked her and hardly a day went by when he didn't make a charming, yet clumsy, attempt to woo her.

I ground my teeth just thinking about it.

Squashing those feelings down, I stood and faced Ino, bowing to her. She returned the gesture.

"Good, it looks like everyone is ready now," Mizuki-sensei noted with satisfaction. "All right, take your places! And… begin!"

Neither I nor Ino made any moves at first. Naruto's… straightforward tactic of blindly attacking his opponents head-on was not typical ninja battle strategy. Before being assassins, hired muscle, killing machines, or whatever you wanted to call it, ninja were supposed to be covert information gatherers.

With the proper knowledge about your opponents, a ninja could win a battle before it even began, or sometimes avoid a battle altogether. As a member of the Hyuuga clan, one who possessed the all seeing white eyes of the Byakugan, I was to be especially adept at gathering, analyzing, and acting on such intelligence.

Yet, I was not permitted to activate the Byakugan in this practice session, therefore I could not see the tenketsu nodes on Ino's body. I had no way to precisely target them and cut off the flow of her chakra and I couldn't get reckless with jyuken attacks, because even a slight miscalculation in my aim could prove deadly. Even had my opponent been Sakura, I wouldn't have wanted to kill her.

Maybe maim, but not kill.

Thus I was at a disadvantage. While Father might not think highly of my skills, I was more proficient with jyuken than any other taijutsu form. At home, I trained exclusively with jyuken and thus only used academy standard form at school. Consequently, I lost more fights than I won, but that wasn't the reason why my grades were so mediocre. The academy and my clan have a certain understanding when it comes to taijutsu.

I almost wish it weren't so. At least then I'd have an excuse for being so unremarkable.

I saw a flash of something in Ino's eye and averted my gaze immediately. The Yamanaka clan was notorious for their mind manipulation techniques and eye contact was a surefire way to walk right into one of those. Granted, we weren't supposed to use anything other than taijutsu for this practice session, but mind techniques were often subtle and difficult to notice, and I wasn't entirely certain of Ino's scruples or inclination to fight fairly.

"Something wrong, Hinata-chan?" Ino teased.

I ignored her, refusing to be provoked. If only I could activate my Byakugan, I would be able to monitor her without looking directly at her, but no such luck. It was no use; I couldn't fight her if I didn't see her. Grimacing, I turned back to look her in the face. I tried to concentrate on her nose and her mouth, avoiding her eyes.

That proved to be a mistake. I should have been watching what the _rest_ of her body was doing.

She was much quicker than I expected. Before I knew it I saw her left fist closing on my face like a locomotive. Well, at least I knew she was left-handed, now. That counted as "intelligence gathering", right?

I raised up my arms to shield myself only to feel a sharp, searing pain in my gut.

Her initial attack had merely been a feint. When I moved to block it, she took advantage of my opening and struck a solid blow to my stomach.

I recoiled backwards, coughing. For such a delicate looking girl, she really knew how to pack a punch. Now I had a vague sense of the pain Naruto must have felt when Sasuke delivered a similar blow to him, though I was certain Sasuke must hit harder than Ino.

I blocked it out. I had to focus. Already I had made a grave tactical error: underestimating my enemy. Out in the field, mistakes like that generally didn't happen twice because you were too dead for there to be a second time.

I re-evaluated Ino. Okay, I now knew she was quick, could deliver a blow with a decent amount of force behind it, and probably wasn't left-handed after all. How did that help me?

It didn't. That's when I started to panic. Not that I was unaccustomed to losing, but it was usually against the boys in our class. I could generally hold my own against my fellow kunoichi. I stumbled backward, unsure of how to proceed.

Ino capitalized on my hesitance and attacked again, going for my face for a second time. Another feint? Before I could decide, there was a cracking sound and I felt something wet running down my nose.

Okay. Not a feint, then.

Father was right. I was hopeless. I was a disgrace to the clan, unable to fend off attacks from a girl from a clan that hardly ever even used taijutsu. I felt my spirits spiraling downward. I realized I couldn't win. I should forfeit. Was this how Naruto had felt when Sasuke defeated him? This cold, dark feeling welling up from the pit of my stomach?

I marveled. Even then, he'd wanted so desperately to continue. Determination burned in the fires of his eyes even when he felt this way, knowing he was completely outmatched and had no chance in winning?

Naruto, you are amazing. Everyone in the village ought to strive to follow your example.

Starting with me.

I jumped back, putting distance between myself and Ino so I could regroup. I thought about Naruto. About how he just charged forward with reckless abandon, heedless of whether or not he had any chance of victory.

_It isn't the destination, it's the journey._

I don't know why, but those words suddenly popped to the forefront of my mind. I thought about what they meant and for what reason I'd thought of them.

Naruto. I wonder if he even cared about the consequences of his actions. Not in the irresponsible sense, but more of a philosophical way. Did it really matter if you won or not? Did it matter if the odds were against you and you knew you probably wouldn't come out ahead?

Were you supposed to just roll over and die? To just accept your fate without even trying to fight and change it? Naruto didn't think so. It wasn't about winning or losing. It was about trying, about playing the game.

The journey and not the destination, huh? I think I liked that…

I felt reinvigorated. If I must lose, then so be it, but I wouldn't do so as a whimpering little coward.

A scream escaped my lips and suddenly I found myself charging headlong at Ino. She could only stare, frozen in shock at my sudden change in demeanor.

I rained blow after reckless blow on her, forcing her on the defensive. She successfully blocked most of them, but a few connected and before I knew it, I was gaining ground on her.

Father would have been disgusted, so inelegant were my attacks. I was driven by a primal urge to smash every obstacle in my path, both physical and metaphorical. I wanted to strike down Ino and prove I wasn't the failure my father believed me to be. I wanted to purge myself of my own doubts and inhibitions and live the way I wanted to instead of toiling under the thumb of those more powerful than myself.

And I wanted Naruto to notice me, to let him know that I acknowledged him and to be acknowledged by him in return.

By that time, I'd made such a scene with my cathartic outburst that the eyes of everyone, including the other combatants were on us. Ino noticed this fact as well, and looked quite flustered. She was part of the "in" crowd and had a reputation to protect after all.

Her head flailed around as she looked out at the crowd. She was searching for something. Or someone, rather. Her eyes settled on Sasuke. No doubt she was worried about what he might think of her if she lost the match against me. I suspect he wouldn't care either way, but I doubt Ino shared that sentiment.

Her jaw locked and she turned back towards me. By the time I realized what she'd intended to do, it was too late. I was already caught. The world around me blurred, colors mixing and warping until everything faded into black.

Then, I saw a single light shining in the darkness. I approached it, and upon closer examination, I saw that it was a window. Strange. I was in some sort of small room. I searched for an exit, but three cold stone walls, and one made of metal bars boxed me in. The room resembled a holding cell of some kind.

I tried the door, but it was locked. Obviously. I wouldn't be getting out that way. So I went back over to the window to see if that was a possibility.

And I saw Ino. But… not in front of me. It was like looking through, well… a window. I saw what my eyes must have been seeing, but not through them, per se. I saw my arms in front of me, through this strange contraption. I was turning them over, flexing them, as if I'd never used them before and was testing them out.

Ino had collapsed to the ground. Mizuki-sensei was shaking her, trying to get a response. Then I saw him take her pulse. Judging by his relieved reaction, she was still alive. I wondered what happened to her, or what was happening to me, for that matter.

"Mizuki-sensei," I head my voice say, though I hadn't even opened my mouth. "I forfeit."

I didn't understand what was happening. Was I watching the portal to some alternate reality where I'd forfeited my match to Ino? I certainly didn't remember doing any such thing. I was winning, after all.

And then it hit me. This had to be some sort of Yamanaka mind technique. Somehow, Ino had usurped control of my body and was forcing myself to say I forfeit. I felt a surge of indignation. How dare she!

I could only stare helplessly, watching myself resign without being able to stop my own body.

"Mizuki-sensei, that isn't me!" I cried out, but nobody heard. After all, who besides me would be in my own head?

"Who, indeed?" said a voice from behind me. Ino! I spun on my heels, falling into my traditional jyuken stance. Then I faltered. It wasn't Ino, after all. It was… well, it was surreal…

"Hi, Hinata," said a girl who looked exactly like me, though maybe her shoulders were straighter, her chin a little higher, and her eyes more confident. "So we finally meet, at last."

* * *

A/N: The idea for this story has been niggling me in the back of my head for a while. I tried to ignore it, because I have other things I need to work on, but the compulsion to put it to pen was just too strong.

Update: Concerning the reviews about using the "kun" honorific for females. Actually, this _is_ used by teachers or bosses for their subordinates, regardless of sex. As Mizuki is the teacher of both Hinata and Ino, he's perfectly within his rights to use the "kun" honorific appropriately.


	2. A Different Path

**Yin and Yang**

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Chapter 2 – A Different Path  
**

It was more than I ever dared hope for. She was here, right in front of me. Her. Me. The other me.

She was even more unimpressive in person than I'd imagined.

She stared at me, her mouth agape. She didn't even bother trying to activate her Byakugan and check if I was only an illusion. To her credit, she had assumed the jyuken stance immediately after I made my presence known, but her form was sloppy. She sloped too far forward, her feet were bent at obtuse angles, and she was shifting too much of her weight on her right leg. It was unsightly.

I'd expected more of myself. Much more. What a disappointment.

"Close your mouth already," I snapped. "You're a Hyuuga, not a fish."

She obeyed almost immediately and there was an audible _click_ as her top and bottom jaw clamped together. I waited, curious about how she would react to me.

She only stared blankly. "Huh?" were the first words out of her mouth.

Ah, such eloquent prose. What would be next, I wondered? Monosyllabic grunting? Clearly I would need to be the one to initiate any sort of intelligent dialogue.

"You're probably wondering who I am," I said without preamble. She nodded in affirmation. "Put simply, I'm you. An aspect of you, to be more specific. I'd say I'm your better half, though I suppose that's a matter of opinion."

She blinked. "Huh?"

I narrowed my eyes, pursing my lips in disapproval. "I understand if you're confused but please, comport yourself as befits your station. You are the heir to the Hyuuga clan, not a gibbering idiot. Start acting like it."

At my words, her posture immediately straightened. Yes, Father had done quite the job of beating obedience into her. I meant that comment as criticism, not approval. Father was all "stick" with no "carrot". The arrogant, self-important, asinine autocrat. He ruled our clan through fear and intimidation. Effective, but crude. One catches more flies with honey than with salt. It was a lesson he'd never learned and probably never would.

"I trust you have some questions for me?" I asked my counterpart with as much patience as I could muster. It really did irritate me, seeing myself behaving so timidly.

My other self paused, a considering look on her face. Good. Better that she think before she spoke than profane my ears with another "huh".

"Where are we?" she finally asked.

"A fair question," I admitted. Now we were getting somewhere. "This… room is the physical manifestation of a portion of your psyche that you've chosen to repress."

"Beg pardon?" the other Hinata said. It was really just a less vulgar form of "huh", but at least her lexicon was expanding. It was a start.

"Let me start over," I sighed. "You are Hinata Hyuuga, correct?"

She nodded.

"I am also Hinata Hyuuga," I said. "I am the part of you that you have locked away, deep inside your heart. I don't know why and I don't know when, but at some point in your… in our life, I was forcibly torn from the rest of your psyche. Your mind. Your soul. Whatever you wish to call it. Somehow, I developed self-awareness and here in this room is where I've spent my days ever since being 'born'. The window you see is my only connection to the outside world."

My counterpart gasped. I almost regretted telling her anything. I didn't want her pity.

"I- I'm so sorry. I didn't know," she said.

"Obviously," I replied dryly. "If you did, I probably wouldn't exist in the first place and would still be a part of you."

The other me shifted uncomfortably. "All the same, I'm sorry."

"I'm not interested in your empty apologies," I snapped. "What's done is done. You obviously weren't aware of it in the first place. Don't take responsibility for things beyond your control."

"I- I'm sorry!" she yelped and bowed her head down, staring at her shoes.

I ground my teeth in frustration. Father had done a real number on her. She was so starved for his respect, for his acknowledgement. With each of his acts of cruelty and neglect, and I'd witnessed them all, he'd eroded my counterpart's sense of self-worth until she was reduced to the sniveling, broken girl before me.

Seeing her cower in fear of my ire disgusted me, both because I hated seeing how weak "I" was and also because my own snappish behavior mirrored Father's in many ways. I might be his child, but I wanted nothing from that man, least of all his ill temper.

"Hinata," I said in a more subdued tone than I'd been using. "Don't apologize. Not everything that goes wrong in the world is your fault. You're only one human being, not a god."

My counterpart nodded, whimpering slightly. Then she wet her lips and said, "I know I'm weak and a lot of things are beyond my power… but if you really are a part of me, then I must somehow be responsible for your imprisonment. You might not want my apologies, and maybe they really are just empty platitudes, but I truly am sorry for what has happened to you. No one should have to suffer alone as you have. No one…"

I hated looking at her. She was such a small, fragile thing. I will give her credit for one thing, however. She may be battered and bruised, but she remains unbroken.

It was easy to forget that she was still me, the one who had actually experienced the hardships I'd only seen through a window. Her life had not been an easy one. I didn't believe that to be an excuse for turning out the way she had, but…

But I would do well to remember she had virtues that I lacked. She was kind and compassionate, where I was impatient and quick to judge. I was hardened and if I'd ever had any innocence in me, I'd lost it long ago. My life, such as it was, had not been easy, either. But her… she remained pure and unblemished despite the countless cruelties that had been visited upon her.

Do not mistake me. I did not like her. She was a weepy, self-effacing, timid little mouse. I won't abide weakness, especially not from myself. Not all of the problems in her life were of her own creation, but many of them were. Yet she made little to no effort to better her lot, simply assuming that she deserved to be as miserable as she was. She didn't.

No, I didn't like her. But I respected her on some level. Personally, I'd take respect between the two any day, but I suppose that was yet another thing that separated us, making us the individuals that we were.

Was she my better half or was I hers? I wasn't quite so certain any longer. I'd merely assumed that she was weak and I was strong, ergo I was superior. It was true that I had strength that she lacked but I now realized that the opposite was also true. I wondered who was stronger, then?

Being who and what I was, there was only one way I could know for sure.

I adopted the correct version of the jyuken stance my counterpart had used earlier. "Hinata," I said. "I want you to fight me."

Her head snapped up instantly. "What? Why?"

I closed my eyes. Considering how wide open my counterpart's were at the moment, I felt there was a certain symmetry to the gesture. "I've been trapped in this cell for too long, Hinata. I want to escape. I want to experience the world first-hand and not merely watch it through a window. I want to be free."

"You will!" said my other self. "This is a part of my mind, right? That means I should be able to unlock the door. Then you won't have to suffer alone in here, anymore."

I shook my head. "I've long thought about this moment and if it would ever come. I've thought about why I was trapped in here. I've thought about why our paths diverged and what must be done to reunite them."

"What are you trying to say?"

I smiled wryly while still keeping my eyes shut. "I said this room is a part of your _repressed_ psyche. Just as I am. That means you have no authority here. You gave that up when I came into existence. This is my domain, now."

"What?" my counterpart said. I could hear the distress in her voice. "Then why are you still in here? Doesn't that mean you can let yourself out?"

"No," I said. "Don't you think I've tried? It's not that simple. The door is not only an exit. It's an entrance, as well. An entrance to a realm where you hold power. It cannot open unless both of us will it. Naturally, that was impossible until now because you were not aware the door even existed."

"Then let's both leave," the other Hinata said. "We can escape from this place, together."

"No," I said once more, my tone sharp as steel. "There isn't room for two minds in a single body. One of us must capitulate. One of us must choose to subordinate ourselves, and in doing so, fade away. One of us must… die."

I've lived in a cage from the moment I was conceived. It is a drab, joyless existence but never once did I think of ending it. Mine may only be a half-life, but I cling to it fiercely. I suppose even a shadow can have the will to live. But now I had the chance to become more than a ghost, haunting the dark recesses of a mind that refused to acknowledge my existence. Finally, after waiting so long, I might finally step into the light and feel the warmth of the sun on my face.

"Die?" echoed my counterpart. "But… why?"

"I won't share with you!" I growled. "You squander your gifts. You've had everything and every opportunity live and to be free, yet your shackle yourself, bemoaning your fate without making any real attempt to better your life. Father is not god. He is a small, petty man who pretends he is, but still you attempt to curry favor with him by playing by his rules. You desire his love when he does not even deserve yours. You dance to his strings like a pretty little marionette, desperate to please him and worse, you fail."

I opened my eyes at long last, with my Byakugan fully activated. "I see who you are, Hinata, and you sicken me. Nothing escapes the all seeing white eyes of the Hyuuga. There will be no reconciliation between us. We will fight and settle beyond the shadow of a doubt which of us deserves freedom and which of us deserves death!"

"No, I won't fight you!" my counterpart screamed. "It doesn't have to be this way!"

"It does!" I insisted. "Now defend yourself!"

I emptied myself of all my passions. Everything, my wrath and my anguish, and even my hope and my desire for freedom ebbed from my body until there was nothing left but cold, steely discipline. A shinobi does not fight driven by petty things like emotions or righteousness. The mission was the only thing that mattered and everything that got in the way was just another target that needed to be put down.

The other me? She needed to die. It wasn't personal. Just business.

I observed her, and I could see the blue glow of her chakra as it flowed through her body. We existed not in the physical plane, of course, and so what I was seeing wasn't actually her chakra, or even her. But so long as we dwelled within the hallowed walls of my inner sanctum, reality was subjective and it would bow to my will.

I took a step forward and time slowed. I could see everything. I noted the position and angles of her limbs. I observed the coils of her chakra circulatory system and where the life substance ebbed and flowed. I saw the tenketsu nodes where her chakra touched the surface of her body, ready to be called upon by her command. She held no secrets from me, but then, she never did.

"You are within my divination," I whispered. And then I moved in for the kill. "Divine Sixty-Four Palm Strike!"

My first blow struck just below her left shoulder. I sent a portion of my own chakra flowing from my fingertips and the joint froze, her left arm dangling limply at her side. From there, my attacks rained down torrentially and my pathetic counterpart made no move to counter them. One by one, I targeted the tenketsu on her body, shutting them down systematically in a complex pattern that my Byakugan seemed to discern intuitively. Two. Four. Eight. Sixteen. Thirty-two.

And finally, sixty-four.

The other me collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap. It was over. But I felt no satisfaction…

"Why didn't you fight back?" I demanded. I don't know why I cared. A victory was a victory, regardless of how it was earned. I couldn't care less about "honor". It was a worthless ideal to a shinobi.

My counterpart lied before me at my mercy, primed for a finishing blow. And yet, I hesitated. Why?

It was unacceptable. I couldn't be satisfied with such a hollow victory. I wanted to earn my freedom, not have it handed to me on a silver platter. I'd spent a lifetime dreaming of this moment, yet she had robbed it of all its meaning.

"Unacceptable," I growled. "I don't want your pity, Hinata." I reached down, grabbing her forcibly by the arm, and pulled her to her feet. "Have you so little self-worth that you won't even fight to preserve your own existence? Or do you just think so little of me that you assume I'm a cowardly weakling like yourself who needs to be coddled?"

I grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her up against the wall. "I am nothing like you, Hinata. You are weak. You are the embodiment of everything I detest. I won't be looked down on by one such as you."

I released her and she fell back to the ground in a huddled, quivering mass. I exerted a force of will and then she was restored to health.

"Get up!" I barked. And like a puppet on invisible strings, she was thrust to her feet. "We will continue until you fight in earnest, Hinata. If you choose not to, then I will break you only to heal you and break you all over again. You will know only despair until battle is joined and one of us falls."

"Now, will you fight me?" I asked.

My counterpart met my eyes and I saw a force of will that I didn't believe she'd had in her. "No," she whispered.

"So be it," I spat.

And then I broke her again. And still she refused. So I did it again. And again. I lost track of how many times the cycle repeated. I would attack and she would offer no resistance. I would beat her until her body lied bruised and battered only to mend her and begin anew. Each time I asked if she would fight me, but her answer was always the same.

"No."

She was more resilient than I gave her credit for. Eventually though, the sobs and the tears came.

It took me a long time to realize that they were mine.

"Why?" I cried in anguish. "Why won't you fight me? Why won't you acknowledge me? I was once a part of you, but you threw me away! You locked me away all alone in the darkness and even now you deny me. Why won't you accept me? Am I really so abhorrent to you?"

I fell to my knees.

"I… I'm not worthless. My existence has meaning. It has to. I can't just be the piece of you that you never wanted…"

The battle was over, I realized then. And she had won without even lifting a finger. Her will was stronger than mine, and she'd proven it. I cried and tears wouldn't stop streaming out. I was the weak one, after all.

I felt her arms wrap around me, but I didn't spurn her sympathy. My pride was destroyed. I had nothing left. What did it matter if I sunk a little lower by finally accepting her pity? I'd never held or had anyone to hold me before. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling…

"It's okay," she said soothingly in my ear. "I understand how you feel. Nobody deserves to suffer alone. But I'm here with you, now."

It… it felt good to hear those words, more than I'd care to admit. I allowed myself to indulge in that moment. I knew one like it would never come again. Not for me.

But then I finally pushed her away. "It's time for you to go back," I told her.

She frowned at me. "But what about you? Won't you come with me?"

I shook my head. "I can't. I'm… afraid, Hinata. I'm afraid of being alone, but even more than that, I'm afraid of dying, of just fading away. Even if I know I'll still be a part of you, somewhere, I just can't. My self-awareness is the only thing I've ever had. I don't want to give it up."

"Then I'll be the one to sacrifice myself," my counterpart said. "You should be the one to walk out that door, not me. You… you're the me I should have been. The me I've always wanted to be. I'm not fit to be the future head of our clan, but you are. You're strong, stronger than I'll ever be."

I laughed at that. "You're stronger than you realize. That ought to mean something, coming from me. You'll be fine."

She hesitated for a long while, but then finally nodded. "I understand."

Good girl. I knew I could count on me.

"Then off you go," I said and we both rose. "The door will only unlock if we both will it. Put your hand over mine."

We overlaid our fingers on the locked door. "Now concentrate. Picture it opening."

And just like magic, it did. I gestured to the exit. "Well… it's your show from here. But then, I guess it always has been. Make me proud."

"I… I'll try," my other self said. She took a step forward.

And then next thing I knew, I was getting pushed through. "Hey! W-What?" I was taken by surprise and so lost my balance as I tumbled out of the small cell. There was a loud _clang_ and then a _click_ behind me.

I jumped to my feet and pounded on the metal bars. "You idiot, what do you think you're doing?"

My other self smiled sadly at me. "I'm the one who belongs in here, not you. I had my chance to live a happy life and I wasted it. I think you'll do a better job than I ever did being Hinata Hyuuga."

No, this wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to be free, but not like this. "That's not for you to decide! Stop being a coward! Step forward on your own two feet! Don't rely on me to do it for you!"

"It _is_ for me to decide," my counterpart said. "And it's the last decision I'll ever make. From now on, it's up to you."

"Hinata!" I screamed. "Hinata, you coward! I thought you were better than this!"

My other self ignored my anguished entreaties. "There's only one thing I ask of you," she told me. "Please, help Naruto-kun. He's all alone, just like you were. I wasn't brave enough to be there for him, but I think you are."

I continued to pound on the bars but then I felt my consciousness slipping. I was drifting… drifting away…

"Take care of Naruto for me," were the last words I remember her telling me. "Good-bye, Hinata…"

And then I awoke from my dream. For the longest time it had been a nightmare, but the final moments hadn't been so bad…

"…don't know what's wrong, Iruka-sensei! She should have regained control of her body after I released the technique!"

I heard a grating, whiny voice.

"Then why is she still in a coma?" another voice demanded. "I'm am severely disappointed in you, young lady. It's bad enough that you cheated but now you've endangered the life of your fellow student. I've already sent word to your parents and you can be sure that the Hyuuga clan and the Hokage will want to have a few words with you."

"Ha!" said a third voice. "You're gonna get it now, Ino!"

"Shut up, Naruto!" the other two voices said in unison.

"Why don't you all shut up?" I suggested, rising from my bed. As I surveyed my surroundings, I recognized I was in the academy's infirmary.

"Hinata!"

Suddenly my bedside was crowded by a young boy and girl and an older looking man.

"Hinata, are you all right?" the man asked. Yes, I'd seen him through the window before.

"I'm fine, Iruka-sensei," I said, even though I most certainly wasn't.

I was furious. This isn't over, Hinata. We will meet again, I promise you.

I swiveled my legs and tried to rise, but Iruka pushed me back down. "Hey, be careful! You've been in a coma for the past hour. Ino used a--"

"Yes, a mind technique, I know," I interrupted. "She took over my body and made me forfeit the match. I was aware of this the entire time."

"Oh," said Iruka. He blinked rapidly. "Well… Ino! Don't you have something to say to Hinata?"

Yamanaka came shuffling forward, a sullen look on her face. "I'm sorry," she said, not looking very sorry at all.

I barred my teeth at her. "I accept your apology with as much sincerity as you offered it," I said back. She looked taken aback. I supposed she expected me to be more gracious, which the other Hinata would have been, certainly.

Of course, I was not the other Hinata. Yamanaka was going to pay for what she did. I would need to think on what form of revenge I wanted to exact, but there would be time for that later.

I turned to Iruka. "Is class over, Iruka-sensei?"

He frowned at me. "Well… yes."

"May I leave then, please?"

"I… suppose if you feel up to it?" he said, and I wasn't sure if he was telling me or asking me.

"I do," I told him.

He released me. "Er… then I suppose you can go."

"Thank you," I said. Then I remembered something. "May I borrow Uzumaki?"

"Me?" Naruto blurted. "B-But why?"

Iruka looked at me, echoing Naruto's question silently. "I have business with him," I said, not caring to elaborate. "I trust he has recovered adequately from his match with Uchiha?"

Iruka nodded dumbly.

"Then come with me," I said, grabbing Uzumaki by the collar and dragging him out the door with me. I didn't release him until we'd cleared the building.

"Hey, what's the big idea!" he yelped indignantly.

I studied him. I'd often seen this one through the window. He was boorish, unkempt, and a loudmouth braggart. I had no idea what my counterpart saw in him. But it had been her one request of me, and I couldn't bring myself to deny her of it.

"When is the graduation exam?" I asked him.

He blinked owlishly at me. "Um… three weeks, I think?"

I nodded. It was less time than I would have liked but we'd have to make do. "Well, you are going to pass and graduate from the academy and I am going to help you."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed. "But I don't need your… Well, why are you… Why would you want to help me?" he settled on, finally.

"Starting today, you and I are friends, understand?" I told him. Ugh, I couldn't believe I'd just said that. You had better be grateful, Hinata. When next we meet, I will not be happy with you…

Naruto stared blankly at me. "Huh?" he said.

I sighed, sliding a palm vertically across my face. Oh, this was going to be just lovely…

* * *

A/N: If you don't like "Other" Hinata at this point, good. Because you aren't supposed to. She's supposed to be an arrogant jerk, just like the rest of her family.


	3. Slow Going

**Yin and Yang**

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Chapter 3 – Slow Going**

"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Hinata?"

"Yes," I seethed through gritted teeth. I was tiring of being asked this question repeatedly. "Your concern is noted. Now please, leave me be."

My latest assailant, I believe his name was "Kaiba" or some such, was being rather persistent. I had been asked some variation of "are you okay" by a dozen of my classmates by now. Their concern for me after the previous day's events was touching, but my patience was quickly wearing thin.

"You've been acting funny all morning," Kinto, or whatever, said. "Ino didn't do something to mess up your head when she pulled that stunt, did she?"

"No," I said. "I am fine and would appreciate it if you would cease interrogating me."

I'd known there would be backlash from "my" sudden change in behavior, but I don't think I'd fully appreciated it until coming to class at the academy. I now regretted that I'd arrived to class early. My own clan had a rather subdued reaction, considering the circumstances. Father had asked me a few questions about the match with Yamanaka but he seemed more concerned about the fact that I'd lost than anything else.

I would prefer if it remained that way, but I knew that would not be the case. Once he learned of my new association with Uzumaki, I was certain he'd be wroth. But that fact did not concern me overly much. I would cross that bridge when I came to it, and then burn it if I had to.

"I was just worried about you, Hinata," Katsu said.

"And I'm very grateful," I said blandly. I had tired of trying to sound sincere by then. "But I have much on my mind and am in no mood to discuss the issue further. Perhaps Yamanaka might indulge your questions?"

"Okay," Kudo said, throwing up his hands defensively. "I can take a hint. I'll stop bugging you."

Well, it certainly took him long enough. Finally, though, he walked away and took a seat elsewhere in the room, for which I was glad. The boy smelled like a wild animal. Perhaps he was of the Inuzuka clan. That family of flea-bitten mongrels had little sense for personal hygiene. Filthy beasts.

When I saw another of my fellow students begin to approach me, I rose from my seat. Enough of this. I would stand outside until the lesson started.

"Good morning, Hinata-chan!" said the newcomer in a sickeningly chipper tone.

It was Uzumaki. My new bosom buddy. Wonderful. My day just kept getting better.

"Hello, Uzumaki," I sighed, returning to my seat.

"Call me Naruto," Uzumaki said as he took the chair adjacent to mine. "We're friends now, after all."

"If you insist," I said, not seeing any harm in the request. "Hello then, Naruto."

Naruto beamed at me. He had a pleasant smile, I'll admit. If he'd just keep his mouth shut, we'd get along swimmingly.

There were hushed mutterings around us. A few people pointed at my companion and myself as though we were a circus attraction. Oh yes, how scandalous that two classmates exchange greetings on the eve of a morning lesson. Surely it was a sign of the coming apocalypse.

Idiots.

"Hey, why are you being so friendly with Hinata?" Kenta from earlier came lumbering up to us. I plugged my nose as I saw him approach.

"What's it to you, dog breath?" Naruto snarled belligerently. Ah, so it wasn't just me.

"She doesn't want to be bothered," Kuga growled. "Right, Hinata?"

"Naruto and I are f-friends," I said, shuddering slightly as I uttered the last word. "We have an accord."

"Y-Yeah!" Naruto chimed in. I thought I saw his eyes watering. "I'm not bothering anybody, so get lost, Kiba!"

Ah, so the boy's name was Kiba. I knew I'd been close.

"What?!" Kiba yelled. "Hinata wouldn't want to be friends with a loser like you!"

"She does so want to be friends with a loser like me!" Naruto shot back, leaping to his feet. Then he realized his mistake and amended, "I mean, I'm not a loser! Shut up, dog breath!"

My eardrums did not appreciate their little contest of who could be the biggest loudmouth, so I decided to nip the situation in the bud before I went deaf. I stood and placed myself between the two of them.

"Naruto, sit," I commanded. He pouted at me, but did as I asked. I turned to Kiba. "As for you, I would appreciate it if you did not insult my companion. Whom I choose to be friends with is my business and I'll thank you for butting out of it."

Kiba stared at me, ashen faced. "B-But, Hinata, I was just worried about--"

"Don't be," I cut him off. "I don't need a nursemaid, Kiba-san."

Kiba was speechless for a moment, but then he bit his lip and his face flushed red. "Fine!" he said simply before storming off.

I sighed as I returned to my chair. I was not satisfied with how I'd handled the confrontation but I hadn't exactly had much practice in the social arena. Neither had the other Hinata, for that matter, but we happened to have problems at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I felt a soft tug on my sleeve.

"Th-Thanks…" Naruto said softly without looking directly at me. "You know, for sticking up for me…"

It was the first time I'd seen him like that. He had none of his usual hyperactivity or bravado. He looked small and vulnerable, and I couldn't help but think I'd just gleaned a side of him he'd never shown to anyone else.

_He's been all alone, just like you were…_

I remembered the words of my counterpart. I don't think I'd really considered the meaning behind them until that moment. I realized that I'd misjudged Naruto, at least partially.

"I…" I started to say, but no other words were forthcoming. What was I supposed to say in that type of situation?

"…you're welcome… Naruto," I finally settled on. He had thanked me, after all. Was it not appropriate to reply as such?

Judging from the smile I received from him, I think it was.

* * *

Iruka-sensei arrived soon afterward and the rest of the class passed without further incident. The lesson was on some obscure genjutsu theory and Naruto was soon snoring away next to me. I didn't bother waking him. The material was as dry as a bone, and next to useless except for genjutsu specialists. As my Byakugan can see through most genjutsu, I found very little of the lecture to be of any interest.

Eventually the school day drew to a close and that was when Naruto came to life again.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" he said excitedly, practically bouncing on his heels as we left the building. "So we're gonna train now, right? For the exam?"

His enthusiasm was admirable, but I wondered how long it would last. Considering how often the other Hinata observed him, I had a fairly good idea of where his skill level was and it wasn't anywhere near where it needed to be for him to be an adequate genin.

Thankfully, the requirements of the graduation exam were fairly lax compared my standards of an adequate genin. But even then, Naruto would need to invest a lot of effort if he wanted to pass.

"Before we do anything, I need a bit of information from you," I told him. "What area do you feel you have the most trouble with?"

Naruto frowned, his face taking on a thoughtful expression. It looked like it hurt.

"Probably bunshin," he said at last. "I can't make a decent one to save my life."

I nodded. "Show me."

"What, here?" Naruto asked.

"No," I told him. "Let's find an empty training field."

"Oh, I know the perfect one," Naruto said. "Training Field Four. It's the one I always use."

"And it's never taken?" I asked curiously.

"Nah," he replied. "It's always deserted. I think people probably think it's unlucky or something."

"Bad luck?" I scoffed. "Luck is just something for people to blame when things don't go their way so they don't have to take responsibility. Bad things always happen. What matters is that you make the most of what you have."

Naruto seemed surprised by my comments. "I feel the same way."

I smiled smugly at him. "Then you're smarter than you look."

"Thanks!" he said brightly. Then, "Hey… wait a minute…"

When we reached the training field, which was deserted as he had promised, I made him produce a bunshin for me. Instead, he gave me the most sorry excuse for one I'd ever seen. It looked more like an amorphous mass with a human face painted on it by a five year old.

"I can see why you think you need work on this," I said, eyeing the abomination he'd created in disgust.

"Well, yeah…" he muttered with a red face, scratching the back of his head. "So can you help me?"

"We'll see," I told him, making no promises. I activated my Byakugan so I could monitor his chakra flow as he used the technique. "Try making another one."

Naruto gaped at me. "Whoa! What did you do to your eyes?!"

I frowned at him. "Haven't you ever heard of the Hyuuga clan?"

He shook his head.

I couldn't believe the boy. He'd never heard of the most powerful and prestigious clan in all of Konohagakure? Had he been living under a rock his entire life? Sighing, I gave him a brief primer on my clan and the abilities of our Byakugan bloodline limit.

"That is SO cool!" he awed. I felt better now that he'd been adequately impressed, but it didn't last long. "Where do I get one of these backgammon thingies?"

"Byakugan," I corrected, pinching the bridge of my nose. "And you don't. You have to be born with it, like any other bloodline limit."

"Oh," he pouted, but quickly recovered. "Well, that doesn't matter. I'm still gonna be Hokage!"

"Let's just concentrate on becoming a genin first, shall we?" I sighed, choosing not to comment on the ludicrousness of his ambition. "Make another… ugh, 'bunshin', please."

He obliged and this time I observed his chakra network as he did so. It was no wonder he couldn't do the thing properly. He was forcing far too much chakra into the hand seal, literally overloading it. Chakra was akin to electricity. Pumping too much of it into a circuit was liable to blow a fuse. In Naruto's case, it was more like a rolling blackout. I relayed this information to him.

"But, how am I supposed to control the amount of chakra I use?" he asked me.

"That's first year academy material," I said testily. "Don't tell me you've forgotten already."

"I didn't forget!" he denied vehemently. "It's just what they said has never worked for me!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm already using as little chakra as I can," he said. "It's either this much, or nothing."

"Don't be ridiculous," I snapped. "You just need more practice."

"Trust me, I've practiced A LOT!" he assured me. "I used to be even worse at it, but this is the best I can do."

In truth, I didn't believe him. I thought he was lying, hoping that I'd be able to teach him some magical shortcut when none existed. So I decided to call his bluff.

"Give me your hands," I said.

"Huh?" he replied. Ugh, there was that word again. "Why?"

"I can close some of the tenketsu around your fingers and wrists," I explained. "That will limit the flow of chakra you can call on."

Assuming he was telling the truth, his chakra reserves had to be so big that when he called upon his chakra instead of turning on a faucet, he unleashed the force of a fire hose. Obviously, no mere academy student could have chakra reserves that enormous and so I expected that he would fail spectacularly, or rather even _more_ spectacularly, once I'd sealed his tenketsu.

"Oh," he said. "Okay, I guess I'm willing to try anything at this point."

"Your hands, then," I said. I took them into my own and studied them closely. I decided to seal all but three tenketsu on each hand, those being the ones on his thumb and middle and index fingers. I was preparing to make the necessary strikes with my jyuken when I glanced at Naruto's face, by chance, and saw it was red.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"N-Nothing," he mumbled quietly. "It's just… I've never held hands with a girl before…"

I frowned. "If you're not going to take this seriously, we can stop right now."

"I am being serious!" he protested. "It's just that… you're pretty, you know? So this is kinda embarrassing."

I had no idea how to react to that statement. So I didn't, and simply closed his tenketsu with a quick flash of my hands.

"Ouch!" he yelped, pulling away from me. "You didn't tell me it would hurt!"

"You didn't ask," I shrugged. "Besides, don't tell me that the future Hokage can't handle a little pain?"

He reacted to my goading exactly as I expected.

"No way! This is nothing!"

"Good," I said. "Then try making another clone for me."

He sullenly muttered something like "slave driver" but did as he was told. I didn't mind, actually. It just proved he had some spirit.

To my astonishment, he made a perfect bunshin. Were it not for my Byakugan, I wouldn't have been able to tell which one was the real him. I don't think I could have done a better job myself.

"I… I did it!" Naruto gasped, looking even more shocked than I was. "I really did it! Hinata-chan, you're awesome!"

I couldn't believe it. Sealing his tenketsu had actually worked. But that meant his chakra reserves had to be monstrous, and the boy wasn't even a genin yet! I could only stare in awe.

Perhaps my counterpart's interest in the boy wasn't such a waste, after all.

Naruto was jumping into the air, whooping with glee. "I did it! I did it! I'm really gonna pass this time!"

He stopped, shooting me a huge grin, before he walked up to me and clasped me by the shoulders. "It's all thanks to you, Hinata-chan! It's because you believed in me!"

Actually… I hadn't. In fact, the only reason I'd invented the crazy scheme was because I _didn't_ believe in him. But now, I didn't know what to believe anymore. All I knew was that there was definitely more to Naruto than meets the eye… even the all seeing white eyes of the Byakugan.

To be honest, that fact scared me a little. But it also intrigued me. Exactly who or what are you, Naruto Uzumaki?

I shook myself in an effort to regain my senses. "Not so fast, Naruto," I said. "Don't get ahead of yourself. There's more on the graduation exam than just producing a bunshin. In any case, I can close your tenketsu prior to the exam, but then you might not be able to use any more chakra intensive skills. It would be better if you learned finer control. I know a few meditation techniques that will slow the flow of chakra through your body and probably allow you to get similar results."

"Meditation?" Naruto gasped. "But that stuff's boring!"

"Or you can just fail the exam and repeat another term at the academy," I suggested. "And experience another fun filled year chockfull of riveting lectures like the one we had today."

He shot me a sullen glare full of resentment. It was just too easy to push his buttons. Training him might turn out to be an entertaining experience, after all.

"Fine," he muttered. I smiled.

The hardest part after that was actually getting him to sit still for longer than five minutes. The boy was a bundle of nerves and I eventually decided to do some sparring to wear him down so I could make some headway with teaching him meditation, but at least it gave me the opportunity to gauge his taijutsu skills.

He was a mess. His form was all wrong. I wasn't very familiar with the taijutsu at the academy and even I could see that. Moreover, the accuracy of his attacks was abysmal. If I stood still long enough, he'd be able to land the occasional strike but he seemed completely inept at hitting a moving target.

His stamina was impressive, however. No matter how many times I knocked him down, he jumped straight back to his feet. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, considering I'd already established he had an abnormally large chakra reservoir. My breaths had become labored by the end, but he'd barely broken a sweat. He was preparing to charge me again when I motioned for him to stop. I gave him my honest critique.

"I can't be THAT bad," he protested.

"Trust me," I said. "You are."

He grimaced. "Well, what can I do about it?"

I was actually impressed by his reaction. Given how much he liked to boast, I expected him to deny that he needed any improvement. Yet here he was, not only admitting he was less than perfect, but asking me what he could do to better himself.

He wasn't at all like I'd imagined him to be. Appearances really could be deceiving, even to a Hyuuga, it seemed.

"I would ask Iruka-sensei for some pointers on how to fix your form," I told him. "Besides that, the only way to get better is practice. We'll do this again tomorrow, and every day leading up to the exam."

He grinned. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Now, how about some meditation?" I suggested.

His smile vanished. He groaned. "Aww man…"

By the time I was finished teaching him the basics to breathing properly, the sun was low in the sky.

"We ought to call it a day," I said.

"What?" Naruto blurted. "But we've only just started--" Then he turned his gaze towards my own. "Oh, wow. Is it really that late? Time just flew by."

Surprisingly, it had. The experience hadn't been nearly as trying as I'd expected. I'd intended to summon every last morsel of forbearance I could muster in order to fulfill the promise to my counterpart, but now that my time with Naruto was drawing to a close, I found myself not wanting it to end.

I brought a hand to my forehead. No, I didn't have a fever.

"Say, Hinata-chan," Naruto said. "How about letting me buy you dinner, before you go home? I don't really have any other way to repay you for your help."

"That isn't necessary," I told him. "Dinner will be waiting for me at the mansion." And Father, with it. I wondered what he would have in store for me when I returned home. I had no doubt that his spies had informed him of my activities long before now.

Naruto's eyes widened. "You live in a mansion?"

I sighed. "Yes, I believe I remember telling you about how important the Hyuuga clan is?"

"Oh, right," he said, his chest deflating. "Well, I guess the food they'll have there is a ton better than anything I can afford…"

I felt a pang of some unknown feeling I'd never experienced before. It wasn't exactly regret, nor shame, but a subtle combination of both. What was it?

_It's guilt,_ a voice from deep in my mind said.

Hinata?! Is that you?

I received no answer. Damn you, Hinata. Now I _knew_ that you were still there, observing my every action as I had once done with you. I don't know how yet, but someday you and I are going to settle our score. Be prepared.

"Well," Naruto said as he turned away. "I guess I'll go now…"

"Naruto, wait," I blurted before I even realized what I was saying. "I wouldn't mind eating with you, if your offer still stands…"

His mouth split into the widest grin I'd seen from him yet. "You bet it does! C'mon, Hinata-chan! I'll take you to the best place in town! Do you like ramen?"

"Ramen?" I echoed. I hadn't the foggiest idea of what he was talking about. "What's that?"

I had to clamp down on my ears to prevent them from rupturing from his ensuing bellow.

"WHAT?!?!"

* * *

"The best place in town", it turned out, was a tiny vendor stand I likely wouldn't even have noticed if Naruto hadn't pointed it out to me.

"Hey, Naruto!" a middle aged gentleman greeted him from behind the counter as we approached. His face was plain, but honest. He was grinning, until he saw me, whereupon "grin" ceased to be the appropriate term so much as "face splitting". I didn't understand the meaning behind it. "Who's the little lady?"

"This is Hinata-chan!" Naruto declared proudly. What exactly it was he was proud of, I couldn't say. "She's my new friend!"

"Hello, sir," I bowed. "I am Hinata Hyuuga."

The man let out a low whistle. "Polite thing, isn't she?"

I bristled. I was _not_ a "thing". I was about to educate the man when Naruto took a seat on a stool and pulled me down onto the one beside him.

"I'd like two of the usual, old man!"

"Coming right up!" said the man, whom I could only assume was a chef by trade. "Don't worry about the bill today, kid. It's on the house."

"All right!" Naruto cheered. "You're the best!"

"And don't you forget it!" the man said back.

"Excuse me," I interjected. "Don't you think the roof of your house is a poor choice of location for keeping your accounting? How are you going to charge us for our meal?"

Both Naruto and the man stared at me as though I'd just grown two heads. "What?" I asked. "Did I say something improper?"

They broke out into hysterical laughter. I felt my face grow hot.

"'On the house' means it's free, Hinata-chan!" Naruto explained. The superior look he had on his face made me want to hurt him. I think the other Hinata would have taken offense at that, though, so I restrained myself.

"Then he should have said 'it's free'," I insisted. "People should say what they mean. And _stop_ laughing!"

"Sorry, little missy," the man said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Didn't mean any harm. I never learned to speak like a proper gentleman and you'll have to forgive an old dog if he can't learn new tricks."

I could only assume he meant those words to be some sort of apology.

"I suppose there's no harm…" I muttered. I was out of my element in this place. It might be best if I left as soon as possible.

"Naruto, I think I should--"

"Here you go, kids!" the man interrupted me, dropping two medium sized steaming bowls in front of Naruto and me.

"Wow, it looks great!" Naruto said, and then he started shoveling the contents of one of the bowls into his mouth.

"Bah, no need to brownnose, kid," said the man. "I already said it's on the… er, it's free."

I decided not to ask what "brownnose" meant and just ignore anything more that the man might say. I sniffed at the bowl he'd placed in front of me. It smelled appetizing enough…

I looked at the setting in front of me for chopsticks, but saw none. There was only a long, thin white packet. I briefly considered if I would be remiss in tearing it open, but disregarded that feeling. This place had different rules than I was accustomed to so why should I worry about such things? I opened the packet and found my chopsticks, only to discover that they'd been fused together.

I grit my teeth. This place was infuriating!

I liberated my eating utensils and stabbed savagely into my food, which consisted primarily of noodles and broth, with bits of vegetables and a meat I couldn't identify scattered throughout. I collected a small helping with my chopsticks and brought it to my mouth, bracing myself.

It… it tasted… _heavenly._

It was a veritable buffet of subtle, yet complex flavors that mixed and enhanced each other until the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. I'd never tasted anything like it. This was "ramen"?

I adored it.

My chopsticks moved in a flurry and before I knew it, I had devoured my entire serving, broth and all. As I set the bowl down, I saw Naruto staring at me.

"Oh," I said, feeling rather embarrassed by my lack of decorum. "Pardon my manners."

He shook his head. "I think I'm in love…"

Not for the first time that day, I had no idea how to react.

* * *

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed so far!

This was a fun chapter to write. "Other" Hinata might have seemed to have everything together in the previous chapter, but keep in mind she hasn't had any contact with another human being from since she can remember. She's actually very naïve, on a level similar to "Canon" Hinata, but in a completely different way.

I envision her as the "Heiress" persona of Hinata. She is the one who is comfortable with the machinations in the cutthroat world of the Hyuuga clan and has the physical power to back it up. Heiress Hinata using the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms technique in the mindscape was meant to illustrate that, as well as her somewhat ruthless nature.

I see Canon Hinata as more of the "Girl Next Door". As much as I love Canon Hinata, I always felt this aspect of her was missing and didn't really find it plausible that she didn't have a harder edge buried in her, having grown up in the environment that she has.

So I created it for her in this story. Don't worry, though. Canon Hinata's role in the plot isn't over. The title of the story is Yin **and** Yang, after all. And if you somehow haven't figured it out, yes this is going to be a Naru/Hina fic. I'm not going to be a dick by pulling a fast one and pairing her up with (god forbid) Sasuke or someone else. Although while we're on the subject, I feel like Kishimoto should just get it over with and rename the damn series after him. No offense to you Sasuke fans out there, but I hate his guts.

That said, from this point forward I don't know how much of a priority this work will be. If I get a lot of reviews (hint, hint), then I will _make_ it a priority. If not, then it'll be on the backburners, but I won't abandon it. So if you want me to continue to update in a timely manner, review. And if not, then don't. I leave it in your hands, my readers.


	4. Treading Carefully

**Yin and Yang**

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

A/N: I'm very grateful to everyone who's reviewed so far. Many of you have left very thoughtful feedback, and I thank you for it. Maybe the numbers aren't there, but the quality is. As a token of my appreciation, here is the next chapter.

**Chapter 4 – Treading Carefully**

As I'd expected, someone was waiting for me as I approached the gates of the Hyuuga clan compound. I recognized the man as a member of the branch family. If I recalled correctly, his name was Kou. He was a distinguished member of my father's retinue, and very loyal to the main house.

"Hinata-sama," he bowed low to me as I stopped in front of him. "Forgive the short notice, but your Lord Father bids that you meet him in his chambers immediately."

I nodded. "Thank you, Kou. I will see him at once."

"It is my honor to escort you, Hinata-sama," Kou bowed once more.

I followed him through the gates and we entered the sterile, lifeless halls of the main family's house-- my house. Shadows clawed at us from every corner of the dimly lit abode. My counterpart had always felt no small amount of trepidation within these walls. It was a feeling I could understand, even if I did not share it. Our home was not a happy place.

Kou paused when we'd reached the door to Father's private quarters.

"Hinata-sama," he spoke barely above a whisper. "Hiashi-sama is in a very… delicate mood. Forgive my impudence, but I urge you, please, do not say anything that may provoke him. I fear he is not himself and I do not wish to see you to endure any undue punishment."

I nodded gravely. I could see Kou was a good man. I did not share my father's disdain for the branch family. When I became clan head, I would see that the many injustices they suffered at the hands of the main house would be put to an end. It was a goal both my other self and I saw eye to eye on.

"I thank you for your advice, Kou-san," I said to him just as quietly. "I swear to you that I will conduct myself with all due grace and discretion. You needn't worry, I promise you. I will heed your warning."

Kou bowed low once more. "You do me too much honor, Hinata-sama." And then he pushed open the door.

Father had his back turned to me when I entered. "So you return at last, my daughter," he said without facing me. "Where have you been all this time, I wonder? Not off consorting with street urchins or other riffraff, I should hope."

"Perish the thought, Father," I replied in a carefully measured tone with a feigned sincerity I did not feel. "As heir to our illustrious clan, I know better than to associate myself with such filth."

He turned and I saw cold fury in his eyes. "Do not mock me, Hinata," he said frostily. "I am not unsympathetic to the sometimes foolish indiscretions of youth, but I am your father and the head of your clan. You will not dishonor me with pithy, transparent lies."

I bowed to him. He had a point. I'd overstepped my bounds. "Forgive me, Father. I forget myself."

Father nodded curtly. "Then tell me, why did you spend the entire afternoon in the company of the boy, Naruto Uzumaki?" He walked towards me slowly and then stopped not a half-meter away. The difference in our heights made his visage even more imposing than before. "You are a Hyuuga, Hinata. Hyuuga do not sully themselves by publicly cavorting with low-born trash."

"I agree," I said, and thought I saw Father's eyebrows rise just a fraction of a millimeter. "However, I have come to believe that Uzumaki is more than he appears." It was a revelation I'd experienced in the short span of a few hours, no less. "I, too, had believed him to be no more than a lazy, stupid buffoon but have since discerned that his poor performance at the academy may have contributing factors that were beyond his scope of influence."

Father did not look convinced. "And you believe yourself to be a better judge than his instructors?" he asked. "You, who are yourself a disappointment and have failed to distinguish your superiority among your peers? A failure is no proper judge of another failure, Hinata. You will terminate whatever relationship you have with the boy. Is that understood?"

Such callous words baldly spoken to the face of his own daughter reminded me of why I held no love for the man. The other Hinata would have cringed and acquiesced contritely, so fearful was she of his disapproval. I had no such qualms. I respected Father's power and his office. Nothing more.

"A failure, am I?" I said, my face a mask even as fury boiled just beneath the surface. "Would my words hold greater weight with you if I were not a 'failure', Father?"

Father gave me a longsuffering stare. "Perhaps," he said after a time.

"Then how might I prove to you that I am not the failure you believe me to be?" I asked.

Father narrowed his eyes. "By demonstrating that you are fit to succeed me as clan head. By proving that you have the wisdom to lead, the power to enforce obedience, and the will to defy those who would oppose you."

I nodded. "And what if I told you that I believe that I possess those traits, Father?"

He looked at me appraisingly. "I would say that you overestimate yourself," he replied.

"Might I ask for the opportunity to prove otherwise?" I inquired.

Father blinked once. I felt a grim sense of satisfaction knowing that I had put him off balance by that one simple question.

"That would be an exercise in futility," he said after recovering from the lapse. "I fail to comprehend how you can believe that you have become a worthy heir overnight, when only yesterday you suffered defeat at the hands of the scion of the Yamanaka clan. You shame me with your weakness. Do not be so eager to demonstrate it to me again."

"I beg that you reconsider, Father," I said, fighting the urge to choke as I said the words. "I only ask that I be given a single chance to prove to you that I am worthy of succeeding your place. Should I disappoint you, then I will defer to your judgment and cut my ties to Uzumaki, as well as suffer any punishment as you see fitting for my failure. However, if I should succeed, then I beg your leave to act as I see fit in the matter of my personal relationships. My interest in Uzumaki is not a romantic one, of this I assure you. And should he prove himself to be unworthy of my distraction, I will end my association with him voluntarily."

And I would. Regardless of my counterpart's wishes, if Naruto failed the graduation exam, then he will have proved my original estimation of him as weakling and a fool to be the correct one. My conscience would be clean for having at least tried to assist him and if he really was a lost cause, then I would not hesitate to wash my hands of him. The other Hinata had asked me to "help him", after all. If he was beyond such help then that was not my failing, only his.

Given my brief time with him earlier that day, I did not believe this would come to pass, but I will not pretend to be omnipotent. Life was a journey full of unexpected twists, as I was coming to learn, both for good and for ill.

"I admit that your newfound sense of confidence pleases me," my Father said. "Perhaps you are not completely beyond hope of growing into an adequate clan head. Very well, we shall put your resolve to the test. I will summon your elder cousin and you will do battle in the clan training room. Should you somehow best him, and I care not how, then I shall grant your request."

I bowed deeply. "Thank you, Father."

My Father looked at me unsmilingly. "I would not be so quick to offer my gratitude were I you. Your cousin's mastery of the Byakugan far outstrips your own. I do not expect you to win."

I chose to say nothing to this, instead intending to let my actions speak for themselves.

* * *

Soon after, my cousin Neji and I stood facing each other in the same room where my counterpart had unfailingly suffered defeat at his hands. I knew he was strong, and respected him for it. I would expect no less of him, considering we were almost siblings. Our fathers had been identical twins and so we were more like half-brother and sister than cousins.

This fact would not, however, dissuade me from trouncing him thoroughly. I would prove that I was better, not because I had been born to the main house, but because I was stronger. My father had said he did not care how I won. That was his unsubtle way of letting me know that if I chose to activate the Caged Bird Seal, he would accept that as a legitimate victory.

He'd also said he did not believe I would do so. Well, he was correct, but it wasn't because I didn't have the resolve necessary to do it. I am the heir to the Hyuuga clan. I would earn the right to the title by virtue of my strength, not by exploiting an artificial weakness in those who did not have the good fortune to be born into the main house.

"Cousin," I said, bowing to Neji. "It is an honor to fight you."

"Likewise, Hinata-sama," Neji replied, but I saw the contempt in his eyes. I might have felt the same, were I in his position.

"Take your places," my Father said to us both. He was the proctor of our match. "I know I needn't remind either of you, but I will do so regardless: this is not a battle to the death. You are both of the Hyuuga clan and Hyuuga do not slaughter each other without cause."

I saw Neji's jaw tighten at my Father's words. I knew why. Just like him, I was aware that my father had sent his brother Hizashi, my uncle and Neji's father, as a sacrificial lamb to Kumo when they demanded blood for the death of their peace envoy.

It was an unforgivable act that both infuriated and sickened me. My father was a coward and a monster. I hated the fact that he and I shared the same blood. I could only imagine how Neji felt about him.

"The match will continue until there is a victor," Father said. "You are both permitted to use any methods to achieve victory short of killing your opponent." It was another reminder for me. You waste your breath, Father. I am not you, and would sooner return to my confinement than resort to your methods.

"I trust you are both ready?"

Both Neji and I nodded our assent.

"Then begin!"

My cousin and I both immediately activated our Byakugan and adopted the traditional jyuken stance. Neji's form was flawless. Truly, he was a shining example of the Hyuuga clan's prowess and superiority.

But so was I.

I waited for him to make his move, so I could prove it. He mistook my patience for hesitance, sneering disdainfully as he closed on my position, most likely planning to put me down in a single, overwhelming onslaught.

I weathered his attacks, but he was even more skilled than I'd thought. It took every ounce of concentration on my part to deflect his blows away from my tenketsu. I saw his eyes widen in shock. In that single instant of vulnerability, I aimed a precision strike to his midsection, only he twirled away at the last second and I merely grazed his side.

But I'd proven my point. He touched the area where I'd landed my strike and I could see from the way his eye twitched that the wound was more than just a scratch.

"You have… improved since we last fought, Hinata-sama," Neji admitted grudgingly.

"And you are as prodigious as ever, cousin," I replied.

I genuinely meant those words, but Neji must have thought I was patronizing him. He scowled and resumed his stance. Were it not for my father's presence, I believe he would have had some cutting words for me.

I could see from the way he held himself that he was now wary of me. If I'd been the one to go for the first strike, I may have been able to catch him off guard and quickly dispatch him, but there was no chance of that now. No matter. I'd never have been satisfied with such a victory.

It was my turn to make a move, and I flew at Neji quick as a kunai. Bending low, I swept my right leg from under him but he flipped through the air, landing at my back. Through my Byakugan, I saw him prepare to strike me from behind, so I somersaulted forward, grabbing his outstretched arm with my legs as it was thrust into empty air, and I threw him across the room and into a wall.

He quickly regained his balanced, but he coughed slightly as he rose to his feet.

"You have been holding back on me," he said.

"Never," I told him. "I would not insult you with such a slight. I am simply more than I was before." Yes, I was now more than a powerless shade encaged in a mental prison.

"I see," Neji said, narrowing his eyes. "Then I will show you that I, too, am more than I have represented."

There was a subtle change in his stance. I recognized it immediately.

But that was impossible. That technique was never taught to branch family members.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!" he roared.

He was on me in an instant and I knew I was in danger. Had I been nearly anyone else, that would have been the end for me. But I was Hinata Hyuuga, the next in line as head of the clan. This technique was known to me, and I was able to perform it myself. I could predict precisely where his strikes would land, because I knew which tenketsu were targeted.

One by one, I deflected his blows, though not without great mental and physical strain. His attacks came swiftly, each one flowing into the next, and I had to be flawless in my defense, without even a fraction of a second margin of error.

I swept the first two blows to the side but I doubt Neji even noticed, so fierce was his concentration. The next four glanced me, but I shut out the pain. It was nothing compared to what I'd already endured. The speed of the eight strikes after that slowed ever so slightly, so I was able to redirect them with the proper effort.

Everything that came afterwards was a blur. I couldn't afford to have any conscious thought if I wanted to survive his onslaught. My body moved on its own, driven by pure instinct. The next thing I knew, my brow was drenched in sweat and while I was more or less unharmed, my body ached from overexertion.

Neji gaped in disbelief. "Impossible!" he shouted. "My execution was flawless! How did you avoid my attacks? How can you still be standing?"

I laughed weakly, straining to keep my legs from trembling. "I'm afraid 'impossible' isn't a concept I understand, cousin," I said. If it had been, I would have been lost to despair long before now. "But as for your execution, you are correct. You were flawless. And that is precisely why I _was_ able to avoid your attacks. That technique is known to me, you see. Shall I demonstrate for you?"

I don't think my words registered with him. He was still reeling from shock. So much the better for me. I adjusted my stance.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms," I whispered.

Had he been prepared, I am certain he would have been able to deflect my attacks as I'd just done with him. But I'd shaken him badly, and he wasn't in any condition to defend himself. He offered no resistance as I sealed off sixty-four of his tenketsu with the very same technique he'd just attempted.

He collapsed to the ground, eyes still frozen in horror.

I let out a long, shuddering sigh. I had won, but only just. He hadn't been expecting me to be as skilled as I was, and that was the only reason I'd been able to best him as "easily" as I had. Neji was not a pushover. If we fought again, I didn't know who would win.

I looked at my father. He blinked once. Twice. Three times. _Four_ times. For him, that was almost the equivalent to fainting. I bowed to him.

"I trust you will honor our agreement, Father?"

* * *

Following a lengthy interrogation, I was allowed to retire to my room. I collapsed onto my bed, still dirty and drenched in sweat. Sleep claimed me for a time.

In my dreams, I saw my other self. She was smiling at me, but there was a deep sadness in her eyes. She turned away, and then disappeared into the shadows.

I awoke to a knock at my door.

"Enter," I said, wiping the sleep from my eyes.

It was my father. I mentally sighed. What more could he want? I'd already suffered enough questions from him for one night.

"Hinata," he addressed me formally, closing the door behind him. "How are you?"

I kept my face neutral, but I was taken aback. I don't believe he'd ever asked me that before.

"Tired," I said.

"Of that, I have no doubt," replied my father. "Your elder cousin is a fierce opponent. I am surprised, _still_ surprised, that you were able to defeat him in fair combat."

Oh, so he'd just come to tell me how shocked he was that the "failure" had been victorious. How wonderful for me. I did so enjoy his company, after all. Especially when he was disparaging me to my face.

But then his next words took me completely by surprise.

"I apologize if I've been particularly hard on you of late, Hinata," he sighed. "It is not an easy thing, being the head of the Hyuuga clan. You will make many enemies, a great number of them very powerful. It was only ever my worry that you would be unable to withstand the pressures of my office. You have always been too soft-hearted for your own good."

Then he smiled, and it was the first time I'd ever seen it.

"But tonight you have acquitted yourself of my doubts. That isn't to say that you won't have many difficult challenges ahead of you, but I am now confident that you will be able to overcome whatever obstacles may hinder you in the future. I have seen the will of fire in you, my daughter, and I am proud of you."

The other Hinata. She'd wanted so badly to hear those words. I felt that there was no justice in this world, now that I'd been the one to receive them. The other me wasn't weak. If anything, the will of fire burned even more brightly within her, but our ignorant, blind father just couldn't see it.

I'm proud of you. The other Hinata would have been overjoyed receiving that praise. She would have openly wept and embraced Father and never wanted to let him go.

Me? I didn't care. It didn't matter what he said to me. I would never forgive him for what he'd done to Uncle Hizashi. He'd sacrificed his brother, his own flesh and blood. What evidence did I have that he wouldn't do the same to me, given the chance?

"I will trust your judgment," he continued. "If you believe the Uzumaki boy to be worth your time, then you may befriend him with my blessing. However, my permission is contingent on his remaining a friend, and only a friend. Is that clear?"

I nodded sharply. That had been my intent in the first place. "Yes, Father."

"Then I shall take my leave," he said, turning back to the door. "Rest well, my daughter. You have earned it."

"Good night, Father," I said.

And then he left. I laid back on my bed, staring at the ceiling for a time, but I felt restless. The incident with Father agitated me, and my thoughts kept floating back to the fight from earlier.

Because of my father's actions, Neji no longer had anyone to say 'I'm proud of you' to him. I saw how much he hated me, both in his eyes and in his blows. But I knew it wasn't truly me he hated, it was my father, and by extension the main house. He had become twisted and bitter in his hate, and I wasn't certain I was any better.

I wanted to see him. I'd wounded his pride tonight, and just like me, pride was just about the only thing he really had.

I left my room and saw that Kou was standing sentry outside.

"Good evening, Hinata-sama," he bowed to me. "I hear that congratulations are in order. You have brought honor to our clan through your glorious victory in battle."

"It doesn't feel glorious," I said bitterly to him. "Neji is my cousin. I took no pleasure in laying him low."

Kou nodded to me. "Forgive me if I overstep my bounds by saying so, but Neji has needed to be reminded of his station for quite some time now. I believe a healthy dose of humility may do him some good."

I think I was becoming fond of Kou, but I didn't agree with him. "But for a small trick of fate, our positions might be reversed," I said.

"That may be," Kou admitted. "But only fools dwell on what might have been. Each of us must accept the lot we have drawn, or forever be damned chasing after what can never be."

"Who decides what can or cannot be?" I asked. "I don't believe in destiny. If we don't have the power to change our own fates, then what's the point in living?"

"Hinata-sama," Kou said, "I am but a simple man and no philosopher. But I believe the universe plays by its own rules. Perhaps there is such a thing as destiny, or there isn't, I cannot say. I only know that I am content with who I am and what I have, and consider myself fortunate for it."

"But what if you weren't?" I said. "Is it so wrong to desire more?"

Kou smiled. "Desire is beautiful and terrible thing. It can bring out the best in men or it can corrupt them until there is no humanity left in them. Neji's desire to destroy the main house is impure. It is not truly what he wants. But the one thing he does want, his father, is beyond the power of any man to grant. His hatred for the main house is a proxy and even if he fulfills his impure desire, he will not find happiness. This is true of anyone with impurity in their hearts."

I thought on Kou's words. What of my desire? It had been fulfilled, hadn't it? I was free now. It had been my one desperate desire for so long. But now, thinking on it, I realized that I was still not happy even after obtaining it. Had my desire been impure, as well?

"Then how does one find happiness?" I asked.

Kou laughed at that. "Hinata-sama, I'm afraid that is something each man must find for himself."

I frowned, realizing I'd been a fool not to realize that before I'd asked the question.

"You are a very wise man, Kou," I said.

Kou laughed again. "I am flattered that you think so, Hinata-sama, but I assure you it is not true. I am merely old and world weary, and have too much time to think on such things."

"I disagree," I said, bowing to him. "You have given me much to think about. I thank you for your council."

"You do me too much honor, Hinata-sama," he said, returning my bow. "But you are welcome, all the same."

I nodded, remembering why I had left my room. "I think I would like to see Neji before I retire for the night."

"Your Lord Father bid that you rest and recuperate," Kou shook his head. "I was not to allow you to exert yourself."

"I will just be a moment," I promised. "Please, I feel I won't be able to sleep until I do."

Kou frowned, but said, "…I suppose it is an innocent enough request. I fear Neji may not be happy to see you, but I doubt he is foolish enough to do you any harm within the compound, even if he were not convalescing from the sound thrashing you gave him." He winked at me. "Go then, but do not tarry. If you have not returned within fifteen minutes, I shall go fetch you myself."

I bowed low to the man and then left, walking at a brisk pace. Neji's dwelling in the compound was just beside my own, and it didn't take long before I found myself outside his door. I rapped my knuckles on it lightly.

"Enter," came a voice from within.

I slid the door open and stepped inside. Neji was laying in his bed and frowned when he saw me.

"Hinata-sama," he greeted me, inclining his head slightly. "Forgive me for not standing, but I am still having trouble moving my own body." He kept the bitterness out of his voice, but I could see it in his clenched fists. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Neji, I would like to speak with you, if I may," I said.

"Of course," he replied, bowing his head. "I am a member of the branch family, after all, and ever at your service. You needn't ask for my permission." As always, his language suggested a contriteness that the rest of his body didn't share. I could even detect a bit of sarcasm leaking into his tone.

"I would like to speak with you, not as the heir to the main house, Neji, but as your cousin," I told him. "I ask for your permission to speak candidly, and give you mine to do the same."

He narrowed his eyes at me, but then nodded stiffly. "Very well, Hinata," he said, and I noted the lack of an honorific. It gave me hope.

"Neji, I don't like this bad blood between us," I said, sighing. "We were close once, you and I. What happened to us?"

"You know very well what happened," he snapped. "I will never forgive the main house for what happened to Father."

"I loved Uncle Hizashi, too, Neji," I said. "And I do not forgive my father for what he did, either. But I am not my father. When I lead the clan someday, there will be changes. I do not like this distance between the main and branch families. We are of the same blood, all of us."

"Yet some of us were not lucky to be born so high," Neji spat. "Spare me your pity, Hinata. It ill becomes a member of the main house."

"I do not pity you, cousin," I insisted. "I respect you and care for you, and that is why I've come. Help me change our clan, Neji. I cannot do it alone."

Neji gave a barking laugh. "Nothing will ever change. I know that it will always be my destiny as a member of the branch family to serve the main house. This is immutable, as certain as the rising and setting of the sun. Your victory today only proves it more so."

"It wasn't destiny that I won today, Neji," I denied. "It was chance. You are a fearsome shinobi and will one day rise to great influence within our clan. Why not use that influence to make a difference, so that we can abolish the Caged Bird Seal and prevent another sacrifice like Uncle Hizashi's from ever happening again?"

There was a thoughtfulness in his eyes, and I could tell at least some of what I was saying was reaching him.

He was silent for a minute, but then finally said, "Had you approached me yesterday, I would have dismissed you out of hand. I thought you a weakling, unfit to become a ninja of the Leaf, much less leader of the Hyuuga. But you defeated me tonight in a fair fight, which I would not have believed possible. Perhaps you do have the power and the will to usher our clan into a new age."

His eyes darkened. "But make no mistake, I will never forgive Hiashi-sama, no matter what happens."

I nodded gravely. "If it's revenge that you seek, I will not stop you. I bear no more love for my father than you."

He stared at me suspiciously, and I could tell he was trying to weigh the sincerity of my words. He must have been satisfied because then he said, "Then I pledge myself to you, Hinata-sama."

"Thank you, Neji. I will not disappoint you," I promised. "Maybe some things are immutable, but the fate of the Hyuuga is not one of them. Our history of sacrifice will be rewritten, even if it must be in fire and blood."

* * *

A/N: There's a lot happening in this chapter, and quite a bit of subtext, too. If you read between the lines, you'll find a number of plot threads that are starting to pop up which you can begin to follow.

One reviewer asked me if Yin Hinata (or Heiress Hinata) knows everything that Yang Hinata does. My answer is: No, she knows more. How is that possible? Well, you'll either have to puzzle it out for yourself or keep reading to find out.

By the way, Kou isn't a pure OC. I took the liberty of fleshing out his personality, but he appears in the manga as Hinata's bodyguard in the Invasion of Pain arc.

Just a couple other notes. I am well aware of the fact that Hizashi volunteered to be the sacrifice and that his brother did not force him into it. Hinata and Neji do not have this knowledge. I am writing from Hinata's point of view, not my own. Please remember this.

And for those skeptical that Hinata could win against Neji: Yang Hinata was not weak, not in body. She merely lacked confidence in herself. There is no such thing as "muscle memory". All memories, even motor functions, are housed in the brain. In the mindscape, where reality was merely a reflection of Yin Hinata's will, she would be able to create shadow opponents, perhaps based on the fights she'd witnessed Yang Hinata participate in. Therefore, Yin Hinata has access to advanced techniques and is able to bring Yang Hinata's dormant strength to it's full potential. Also, as I said in the story, Neji was caught off guard by Yin Hinata's unexpected skill. The element of surprise is not something anyone should underestimate. It is a very powerful advantage.

Update: I feel the need to add this, because it doesn't seem to be coming off as clearly as I'd hoped, but Yin Hinata is not meant to be the pinnacle of everything the Hyuuga clan heir should be. Her comments and observations in Chapter 4 reflect those of a very bitter person. They aren't meant to show that she is righteous, but that she isn't. Not yet, anyway. I even explicitly mentioned this back in Chapter 2 when in her dialogue she said, "But I would do well to remember she had virtues that I lacked."

The Hyuuga family is royally messed up and that's one reason Yin Hinata fits in so well, because she is, too. This will be a major focal point later on in the story. And don't think Neji learned his lesson by a long shot. He's still as messed up as he was in canon and maybe even a little more so, now.


	5. Travel Companions

**Yin and Yang**

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Chapter 5 – Travel Companions**

I'd been thinking on it for some time, now. I hadn't been able to work up the courage to ask. I was afraid of what might happen, though I knew I owed it to myself to at least try.

Yet, no matter how much I considered it, I couldn't see things ending pleasantly, at least for me. And because of that, I chose to do nothing. I was a coward, and I knew it. It shamed me, and I loathed myself for it, but even that could not encourage me to take action.

I'm sorry, Hinata. I'm not brave enough.

I saw the blonde head I'd been absentmindedly staring at swivel. "Was there something you wanted?" From the seat in front of me, Ino Yamanaka's eyes met my own. "I might not have the Byakugan, but it's kind of hard for me not to notice that you keep staring at the back of my head."

Yamanaka frowned at me. "You aren't still sore about what happened, are you? I said I was sorry."

Yes, and you looked so remorseful when you had, too. But that didn't matter to me, not anymore. I realized that harboring resentment over such a petty thing was unworthy me. Moreover, Yamanaka might be my only hope of reestablishing contact with the other me.

But, again, I was too afraid to try.

"I apologize," I said. "I didn't intend any offense. I was just… thinking."

"Well can you think while looking somewhere else?" Yamanaka groused. "It's distracting when I feel your eyes on me."

I tried to hold my tongue, but I couldn't contain myself any longer. "Pardon me, but how does that technique you used on me work?" I blurted. I was desperate for any sort of knowledge that might assuage my fears and grant me the courage to do what I knew must be done.

"What?" Yamanaka eyed me incredulously. "You know I can't tell you that. Does your family let you blab about the secrets of the Gentle Fist when anybody asks?"

I did not like her tone. "Does yours teach you anything about the responsible use of clan techniques?" I countered hotly.

"So you _are_ still mad," Yamanaka sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I really am." As she said so, I noticed she did look a bit more sincere this time. "If it makes you feel any better, Dad really tore me a new one when I got home after school. I think I went partially deaf for a few days after that."

Amusingly enough, that _did_ make me feel somewhat better.

"Can we both just move past the whole mess? I was wrong, okay? I'm sorry I cheated. It was sleazy of me. It won't happen again." Yamanaka extended a hand to me. "No hard feelings?"

I hadn't expected Yamanaka to be so magnanimous, even if her words did sound a bit forced. I supposed if she was noble enough to extend an olive branch, the least I could do was accept it. I shook her hand.

She smiled at me. "Great. I'm glad we're on the level, again."

She moved to turn away, but then stopped and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "You know, you seem a bit… different lately. At first, I thought it was because you were just angry at what I did, but I've noticed you've been kind of nasty to everyone, not just me. Kiba's been moping around like a kicked puppy after what you said to him. I wrote it off as just a crazy mood swing, but that doesn't seem to be it. Is there something wrong?"

Not this again. Why couldn't these people leave well enough alone? "It's nothing I would care to discuss."

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about," Yamanaka continued, ignoring me. "You used to be this really shy but sweet girl but now it's like you're a completely different person. Some people are actually a little afraid of you, now."

I frowned at this news. Afraid of me? What reason would they have to be afraid of me? I hadn't threatened anyone and it wasn't as if I'd suddenly sprouted fangs and started wearing a black cape to class.

"Why? I haven't given anyone cause to fear me," I said.

"You sure about that?" Yamanaka asked. "It's kind of scary when somebody you've known for years suddenly changes overnight. I mean, I know we're getting to that age-- puberty and all, but even then it's a bit dramatic in your case."

I blinked. While I had considered the fact that others would take my replacement of the other Hinata with some degree of incredulity, I don't think I'd considered how they might feel about it on an emotional level.

Some of my classmates had probably been close to the other Hinata. Now that I'd taken her place, I realized that perhaps I'd deprived some people of a friend they once treasured. This revelation was… unsettling.

"Not that I'm criticizing you or anything," Yamaka said. "I think it's about time that you grew a backbone. But I'll admit that I'm going to miss teasing you every now and then. Sometimes you were just adorable! And don't play innocent with me. I saw those looks you always used to give Naruto. Congrats on finally hooking up with him, by the way."

I frowned. "Hook up?" I echoed. "What do you mean?"

Yamanka rolled her eyes at me. "Please, I'm not blind Hinata. As a fellow girl in love, I know what the signs are. Personally, I think you can do _much_ better than Naruto, but as long as he treats you okay, I don't see the harm. I'm kind of relieved, actually. I know you aren't into Sasuke, but now that you're off the market, that's one less potential threat in my book. I think he might be the type who likes a girl who plays hard to get. Forbidden fruit and all that. Come to think of it, maybe that's my problem…"

She shook her head. "Anyway, if you ever need any relationship advice, I'm your girl. I think you'll be needing it, considering what a blockhead Naruto can be."

"Naruto and I are friends, nothing more," I denied. "Your offer of advice is appreciated, but unnecessary."

Yamanaka gave me a smug, simpering smile. "Still playing coy, huh? Not a bad strategy but I think you'll have to be more direct with someone as dense at him. He doesn't look like the type who appreciates the delicate subtleties of a young girl's heart."

I blinked. What on earth was she talking about? "What?" I blurted.

"Oh, you're good," Yamanaka mumbled as she studied me appraisingly. "I bet that innocent act brings out all kinds of protective instincts. Maybe you could give me a few pointers?"

I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "Yamanaka, I don't think I enjoy this particular topic. Can we please speak about something else?"

She frowned at me. "Yamanaka?" she echoed. "What are we, strangers? Call me Ino."

"I…" my voice trailed off. This girl was a very odd creature. Not a week ago, she'd tried to cheat me out of an honest victory and now she thought we were familiar enough with each other to be on a first name basis. Yet somehow, her friendly overtures disarmed me and I found myself getting swept into the flow of her current. "…as you wish, Ino-san."

"Ino-chan," she corrected. "'San' is too stuffy to use for a cute girl like me."

Cute _and_ modest, it seemed.

"Ino-chan, then," I said, and she smiled. I didn't know how it happened, but any thoughts I'd had of visiting revenge on the girl vanished. It was… perplexing, to say the least. She reminded me a little of Naruto.

Both were blonde idiots who evidently were more than they appeared. Did it have to do with their hair color, or were they simply unique individuals, I wondered. I shuddered, imagining what a blonde Hyuuga might be like.

"Hey don't look now, but your boyfriend is here," Ino giggled.

I turned my head in the direction she had nodded and saw Naruto. Something about the way she'd said "boyfriend" bothered me. Yes, he was a boy and my friend, but wasn't his sex self-evident? It seemed superfluous to specifically point it out.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" Naruto said brightly. Then he saw Ino and frowned. "Oh, hey Ino."

"Naruto," she returned his less than enthusiastic greeting diplomatically. Then she whispered to me, "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone."

As Naruto took a seat next to me, he asked me, "What was that about? She wasn't trash talking me, was she? Because anything she said about me isn't true!"

Ino heard him and turned back to us. "As if! I have better things to do with my time than spread rumors about you, Naruto. The world doesn't revolve around you."

"I guess it revolves around Sasuke then, huh?" Naruto shot back.

Ino glared at him, but didn't contradict what he'd said.

"How are you this morning, Naruto?" I said in an effort to defuse the situation.

He turned away from Ino and grinned at me. "I'm great, Hinata-chan! I can't wait until after class!"

"What are you two doing after class?" Ino asked curiously. I wondered when exactly she intended to cease eavesdropping on our conversation.

"None of your business!" Naruto snapped.

Ino waggled her eyebrows and grinned mischievously. "Oh… so you're doing _that_, hmm? I didn't know you two had already gotten so close."

I blinked. What was "that"? And why was Ino so skilled at completely confounding me?

"W-W-W-What?!" Naruto stammered and I saw his face was beet red. "No, we haven't! Hinata-chan is a lady! Not a… well, you know. And we're only twelve!"

Ino reached out and clobbered him in the head. "I know that, you idiot! Get your mind out of the gutter! I was talking about a date!"

"A d-d-date?" Naruto echoed, and if anything he seemed even more agitated.

"Oh, so I was wrong?" Ino asked, looking disappointed. "Sheesh, no offense Hinata, but I don't know what you see in this moron."

"Sometimes, I don't either," I replied, and she seemed to find this amusing.

"So, if not a date, then what are you two doing?" Ino inquired.

"I've been helping Naruto prepare for the graduation exam," I said. For some reason I didn't mind sharing this information with her. She was… oddly pleasant to talk to.

"Oh," sighed Ino. "How boring. I was hoping for something a little more spicy."

"Well, too bad for you!" Naruto growled at her. "Now do you mind sticking your nose somewhere else?"

"What crawled up _your_ butt?" Ino shot back defensively. "Do you have some sort of problem with me?"

"Yeah!" Naruto said. "I don't want any Sasuke freaks trying to get between Hinata-chan and me!"

"Naruto, she didn't--" I tried to say, but things had already escalated out of my control.

"It isn't a crime to like Sasuke!" Ino responded angrily.

"Well, it should be!"

"Oh, please," Ino scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Sakura likes Sasuke and you worship the ground she walks on."

"That's…" Naruto stared to retort but then he faltered. His eyes darted to a pink-haired girl sitting across the room who was obliviously studying Uchiha as if he were the most interesting thing she'd ever seen. "That's in the past…" he finally said quietly.

Ino cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? So you've given up on her?"

Naruto cast a sidelong glance at myself before nodding. "I've found something better."

His face was red and he was staring at his desk. Ino had an indecipherable expression on her face, but then she smiled softly and turned back to the front of the room.

For my part, I was simply glad they'd stopped screaming at each other. Apparently the "b" in blonde also stood for "bigmouth".

Once class had ended for the day, I lingered behind and told Naruto to head to the training field without me.

"Huh? How come?" he asked me. "Are… are you not coming today?"

"I'll be along shortly," I assured him. "I just want to take care of something first."

He nodded reluctantly and then left.

I scanned the classroom for my target as the students began to file out. Something Ino had said earlier was bothering me. It gnawed at me in the back of my neck like a tiny insect. The feeling wasn't as pronounced as when I'd felt it before, but I think the other Hinata had called it "guilt".

It took me a minute, but I finally found who I'd been looking for. I stopped him as he was leaving.

"Kiba-san, could I have a moment of your time?"

"Hinata?" Kiba looked surprised to see me. "Oh, uh… yeah, sure. What's up?"

I swallowed, and found that pride had a bitter taste. "I… want to apologize to you about my behavior the other day," I said. "I realize now that I may have been insensitive to your feelings when I was short with you. It was not my intention to cause you any undue suffering. If I have done so, then I am sorry."

Kiba shifted uncomfortably and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, that. Don't worry about it. It didn't bother me."

I might have left it at that, but felt that perhaps Ino was more well-versed in these matters than myself and I shouldn't take Kiba's words at face value. She said he'd been "moping around like a kicked puppy", and it was true that he did not look as boisterous as he had been the other day.

"Kiba-san, you didn't deserve to be dismissed the way you were," I said, trying to find the right words to express myself. I was not inarticulate but nevertheless, it took uncommon effort on my part to piece together my sentences. "You were only concerned for my well-being. I should have been more gracious than I was. It was thoughtless of me not to have considered how you might react to what I said."

"Hinata, you've got it all wrong," Kiba said, grimacing. "That isn't why I was upset. I just… Well…" He trailed off and then let out a growl of frustration. "Damn it, I didn't like seeing you take Naruto's side over mine!"

I stared uncomprehendingly. "What does Naruto have to do with anything?"

"Everything!" shouted Kiba. "All of a sudden you two are best buddies and it's like you've forgotten all about me. How long have we known each other, Hinata? Was Naruto the one to talk to you on the first day at the academy when you were sitting all by yourself in the corner of the playground? Was Naruto the one who sat with you and stroked your back when you were in tears, telling me all about your asshole family? I thought we were friends, Hinata, but you haven't even talked to me for the past week. Instead, I always see you with _him_ at that training ground after school. How do you think that makes me feel?"

He turned his head to the side but I could see a moist glistening in his one visible eye. "Look, I know you've always had a crush on the guy. You never said anything, but I could tell. I don't think he's good enough for you, but I guess that isn't my call to make. I guess I'm happy for you now that you've finally worked up the nerve to act on your feelings, but I didn't think that you'd just leave me out in the cold the way you have. I… I like you, okay?"

I thought I could actually feel the heat radiating from his red face.

"I know you don't feel the same way about me, and that's okay. I'll deal with it. I don't want to stand between you and Naruto. But I thought we'd at least always be friends. Was I wrong?"

He stared at me helplessly.

"I know everyone else thinks I'm just this foulmouthed jerk who likes to get into fights, so it hurts when one of the only people who doesn't acts like I don't exist. Since when did I become "Kiba-san" to you? Or what, is it just that you've traded up so you don't need me anymore?"

The "guilt" I'd been feeling had been increasingly steadily as Kiba continue to pour out his pent up emotions. I now felt absolutely miserable. I hadn't realized my counterpart was so close to the boy. I wasn't always watching the window. Sometimes I would sleep, or meditate, or simply stare at the locked door like a hungry animal. And even when I was paying attention, I often found that my other self consorted with those whom I found to be beneath my notice.

She would sometimes gives alms to beggars on the streets or participate when dirty little children ran by "playing ninja". She was not as selective with the company she kept as I would have been. And judging by what I'd gleaned of Naruto and now this Kiba boy, I had to admit that she must have had a special insight to see the goodness and worthiness in others that I didn't.

Truly she was the best of me, and I felt ashamed that I couldn't see it before. We were both of the Hyuuga, and possessed the all seeing Byakugan, but her eyes were much sharper than mine.

"Kiba-san…" I began, but caught my mistake. I shook my head. "No, Kiba-kun. I'm sorry. I have grievously wronged you. I… haven't been myself lately. I have no excuse for the callousness of my recent actions, and I have nothing to offer you except my apologies."

I bowed very deeply, my torso forming an acute angle with my legs. "I swear to you that I never intended to injure you. I have been a poor friend to you and do not deserve your forgiveness. Though I may be unworthy of your fellowship, I beg that you grant me the opportunity to right the wrongs I have done you."

"Whoa, Hinata, you're going way too far!" I heard panic in Kiba's voice. "C'mon, stand up! Your dad would kill you if he saw you like this!"

"My father and I have come to a recent understanding," I said, unmoving. "But even were this not so, I would act no differently. I am sorry, Kiba-kun. Forgive me."

"Okay, you're forgiven," Kiba said hastily. "Just stand up, already."

"You should listen to him," said a cold voice.

I looked up and saw it was the Uchiha boy, the last of a clan with an inferior offshoot of the Hyuuga's Byakugan. There was much pride in him, though I couldn't see why. He and his progenitors were mere thieves, leeching off of the hard-earned skills of their betters. The fact that they'd nearly been stamped from existence was only evidence of their weakness.

"Do you mind taking your silly melodrama elsewhere?" Uchiha spat in derision. "You're blocking the door."

Kiba bristled, grabbing him by the collar. "Shut up, Sasuke! This isn't any of your business!"

Uchiha slapped Kiba's hand aside. "Know your place, mongrel. If you touch me again, I'll be certain to remind you of it." He turned to me. "And you should remember yours. What would the people of Konoha think if they knew that the heir to the mighty Hyuuga clan counts filth like him and dead last among her friends?"

Kiba's fist met Uchiha's jaw, and I saw a trickle of blood run down from the latter's lip. "You sonnuva… you leave Hinata out of this! I don't care what you say about me, but I'm not gonna just stand by if you start insulting her in front of me. You might both be from powerful clans, but she's way nobler than your sorry ass!"

Uchiha brought a hand to his bloody lip and the stain smeared. He looked at his fingers. "What did I just say to you, dog?" he said in a soft voice, trembling with fury. "Now I'm going to have to hurt you."

I leapt, pushing Kiba out of harm's way, and intercepted Uchiha's streaking fist with an open palm.

"Enough!" I growled. "Remember yourself, Uchiha. I know that Kiba attacked you first, but you did provoke him and should know better than to retaliate. Are you so incapable of mastering your emotions that you would seek retribution against your fellow ninja of the Leaf? My, how the once revered Uchiha clan has sunken so low."

Uchiha's eyes darkened and his scowl was one of bitterness and hate. "Don't ever insult my family, Hyuuga. One day I will avenge them, and repay every last injustice we have suffered." He withdrew and put his hands in his pockets. "I'll forget about today, but never cross me again or I promise you, you will regret it."

Then he swept past me, brushing me aside with his shoulder, and left the scene. He was followed by a flock of girls that included Ino and the one that she and Naruto had identified as "Sakura". They all averted their gazes as they filed past, save for Ino, who grimaced and bowed her head to me apologetically. After they were gone, the boys in the crowd that had gathered began to cheer.

I ignored them and turned to Kiba. "Are you all right, Kiba-kun?"

He blinked at me but then nodded. "Y-Yeah. That was… really impressive Hinata. You really schooled Sasuke. I didn't know you had it in you."

I smiled wryly. "No, he pulled his punch at the last moment." Yet my hand was still throbbing with pain from it. His place at the top of our class was well earned, even if he was one of the thieving Uchiha.

Kiba shook his head. "That's not what I meant. You stood up to him. You made him stand down. That jerk walks all over everybody like we're just bugs to him. You're the only one he might consider his equal, at least in social status."

"Then he's a fool," I growled. And he reminded me too much of myself, the me I might have become were if not for my better half.

"Hey," Kiba said, holding up his hands. "Preaching to the choir, here. Seriously though, you rock, Hinata. I'm a little sad to see that shy, innocent little girl I used to know grow up, but I guess it was bound to happen eventually. I'm really proud of you."

I felt a warm, pleasant sensation in response to his words. It was different from just ordinary pride and was much more humble, even a bit embarrassing.

_Heh heh, you're feeling bashful._

I heard the voice of my other self again. I really wished she would stop doing that.

"Thank you, Kiba-kun," I said, hoping my cheeks were not pink from the heat I felt. "I'm… proud to have made you proud."

He grinned at me and I knew that I'd been forgiven.

* * *

Naruto was alone, practicing his taijutsu on a training dummy when I approached. He was getting better, I will allow, but a mere week's worth of practice would not make him an expert. He still had a long road ahead of him.

Still, I felt his progress was more than adequate considering how unpolished he'd started out as. He no longer needed me to be stationary for him to land a strike, though I still beat him with hardly any effort every single time.

_Hardly_ any effort, which still implied a degree of energy I hadn't needed to exert before. He was improving, and any amount of progress is always a good thing.

He smiled when he saw me. "Hi, Hinata-chan! I'm glad you finally made it!" Then he looked past me and frowned. "What's dog breath doing with you?"

Kiba growled and started to advance on Naruto. I held up a hand and he grunted his displeasure, but stopped.

"Kiba-kun will be joining us from today forward to help me with your taijutsu training," I explained. "It will be good for you to learn how to combat different styles as you'll never know what sort of opponents you'll be facing out in the field."

Naruto gaped, and Kiba cracked his knuckles menacingly. "Yep, and I'm gonna enjoy kicking your butt, twerp."

"You can probably benefit from the meditation techniques I've been teaching, too, Kiba-kun," I added.

"What?!" Kiba blurted incredulously. "I didn't sign up for that!"

"As shinobi, we won't always be given missions that we will necessarily enjoy," I pointed out. "Consider it practice for the mindset one needs as a genin."

Kiba grumbled but did not dispute what I'd said.

"Wait!" Naruto protested. "Don't I get any say in this?!"

"No," I said bluntly. "If you don't like my training methods, you are free to quit at any time. Do not expect me to take you back if you leave, however."

"B-But…" Naruto stammered weakly, but he and I both knew he wouldn't do any such thing. "Fine," he muttered sullenly. "But I'm not paying for his ramen!"

"I can afford my own meals, dope!" Kiba snarled. "And who says I like ramen? Why should you get to decide where we eat?!" And then they began to bicker over where we would eat dinner after the day's training session was over.

I smiled as I watched their petty squabble. It felt good… having friends.

* * *

A/N: And here's another significant chapter. Hinata makes a couple new friends, and also an enemy. A powerful enemy too, just like her father had warned her… As I said before, I dislike Sasuke but I do understand the reasons he's so single-mindedly focused on revenge. I don't agree with him at all, but I acknowledge his strength and skill and only wish he would wield them for a more worthy cause.

Contrary to impression some of you may be under, I do not believe Yang Hinata is inferior to Yin Hinata. I think that both of them possess very important qualities that their opposite lacks, but there is still just a little bit of those traits that they're "missing" within each other. This is, after all, the nature of yin and yang and it is why I chose to name my story as such.

I'm sorry to disappoint those who have been expecting more Naruto face time. His role in the story as Hinata's love interest will grow as the story progresses, but I dislike fluffy, unrealistically saccharine romance scenes strung together like cheap popcorn on a Christmas tree. I think there are already plenty of stories like that out there, if that's what you're looking for.

Anyway, I've often found that many of my fellows on this site portray very shallow versions of Ino and Kiba, and I don't think that's very fair. Ino is the one who approached Sakura, befriended her, and got her to come out of her shell. Those are not the actions of a self-centered, narrow-minded shrew or a brainless blonde bimbo. And Kiba is one of the first people other than Hinata (who never had any doubts) to revise his opinion of Naruto after being defeated by him in the chunin exam prelims. He even voices his belief in Naruto's capability in achieving victory against Neji in the finals when even his own teammate, Sakura, still had serious doubts about Naruto's skills. Too often do these characters get the short end of the stick, and I have sought to remedy this.

Thank you again to everyone who's reviewed my humble little work. Many of you have made some very astute observations which have granted me greater insight into the story I've constructed, and I'm the one who wrote it! I can honestly say writing this story is a lot of fun and your reviews make it all the more gratifying. Thanks again! You guys are a great audience and I'm grateful for every last one of you.


	6. First Milestone

**Yin and Yang**

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Chapter 6 – First Milestone**

"Man do you stink, Naruto," Kiba snorted derisively. "There's only one week left until the graduation exam and you haven't beaten Hinata even once."

Naruto paused in the middle of our match and turned to Kiba who was watching from the sidelines. "Shut up, Kiba! I'd like to see _you_ do any better!"

Kiba laughed and shook his head. "Not a chance. You'd have to be an idiot to walk into a fight against a Hyuuga in hand-to-hand combat. Those eyes aren't just for show, you know."

In spite of myself, I smiled at this. It was always gratifying when my clan's prowess was recognized by outsiders.

"Tell me something I don't know, you dumb mutt!" Naruto snarled. He turned back to me. "How am I supposed to beat you when you can see out the back of your head? No matter what angle I attack you from, you're always one step ahead!"

"Now, now, Naruto," I chided gently. "This isn't a competition. The goal of our exercise isn't to beat your opponent, but to improve yourself. I'm not your enemy; you are. Continue to hone your skills and maybe someday you'll present me with a decent challenge."

He frowned at me sourly. "That's easy for you to say. Can't you at least pull your punches?"

"To what end?" I asked. "You're durable enough to take it and you'll never get better if you can only win using handicaps. Besides, I'm already refraining from closing your tenketsu with my strikes. Just be thankful for that."

It actually would've defeated the purpose of our training if I did use my jyuken attacks to their full effect. Naruto's stamina was the one area where he had me badly beat. If I sealed his ability to call on and mold his own chakra, our sessions wouldn't last longer than a single bout, and Naruto needed as much practice as he could get.

Now that Kiba had started joining our sessions, we could trade off matches against Naruto so that the other could recuperate and thus extend our training time for taijutsu by much longer than when I'd been instructing him alone. Even then, the two of us would usually run out of steam before him. Naruto was a human dynamo, and I shuddered to think how fearsome an opponent he would become once his skills improved.

I never mentioned this to him, of course. Even when he impressed me, I was sparing with my praise, giving him just enough encouragement to keep him going. He would improve more rapidly than if I lavished him with compliments and caused him to grow complacent.

"It just sucks because it doesn't feel like I'm getting any better," Naruto complained. "I can't even beat Kiba yet, much less you, Hinata-chan."

"It's only been two weeks, Naruto," I said supportively. "These things take time. Just keep your chin up and keep at it. Whether you realize it or not, you're much better than before."

His ears perked up at this. "Really?" he asked, eyes shining.

"Of course, 'better' doesn't mean 'good'," I added, and he deflated. "Don't get discouraged, though. You've been making some promising progress. We'll make a fine ninja of you, yet."

"I wouldn't count on it," Kiba laughed. Naruto glared at him, but then Kiba sighed and smiled sardonically. "I'll give you an 'A' for effort, though. If all it took was sheer will to become Hokage, you'd have the job already."

Naruto frowned and squinted suspiciously.

"He meant that as a compliment, Naruto," I said, reasonably certain I was correct.

"I did," Kiba confirmed. "You've got guts, Naruto. That ain't everything, but it's a lot. I can respect a guy who keeps falling on his ass, so long as he keeps on getting back up."

Naruto blinked, surprised by the honest praise. "Th-thanks, Kiba," he mumbled, embarrassed.

Naruto and Kiba shared many similarities, including somewhat confrontational personalities, and they often fought like cats and dogs because of it. Underneath that though, there was a mutual respect, even if it was a grudging one.

"Don't get a swelled head, though," Kiba added. "You're still miles behind me and Hinata and don't you forget it."

Naruto scowled. "Maybe right now," he admitted. "But I'm done being dead last! I don't care what it takes, I'm gonna be a great ninja someday! And then I'm gonna be Hokage! Believe it!"

"I'll believe it when you show me a reason to!" said Kiba. "All I see right now is a snot-nosed brat who likes to talk a big game, but can barely pull off a decent bunshin."

"He has a point, Naruto," I said. "Nobody becomes Hokage just by shouting it from the rooftops. It takes a lot of talent and a lot of hard work."

Naruto had a wounded look on his face. "Does… does that mean you don't believe I can do it?" he asked me.

Two weeks ago, I would have replied 'No' without any hesitation. Now… well, I still thought it was far-fetched, but maybe not impossible. The better I got to know Naruto, the more I found he was just full of surprises. The only thing one could count on was his unpredictability.

"I believe it will take a great deal of improvement on your part," I said tactfully. "I don't see you obtaining the office any time soon, but… in the future? Who can say?"

Naruto seemed unsatisfied by my answer, but nodded. "It's okay. I know I'm kind of a mess right now, but I really appreciate all your help, Hinata-chan. You too, Kiba. I'm going to take all the lessons I've learned from you guys and just take things one step at a time. I know I won't become Hokage tomorrow, but I will someday. And when I do, I won't forget it was you two who helped me do it."

Kiba cocked an eyebrow and stared very hard at Naruto. I, myself, was very impressed by what I'd just heard from him.

As I said, Naruto Uzumaki was just full of surprises.

"In that case, how about we finish our match?" I asked, and then I allowed myself a small smile. "Well, Hokage-sama in-training?"

Naruto grinned at me. "You got it!"

* * *

It was Naruto's turn to pick today, so the three of us headed to Ichiraku's after the day's session was over. The routine was starting to become familiar to me, and I felt I was going to miss it once we all became genin and most likely go our separate ways. There was a chance we would all be placed on the same team, but that would be at the discretion of the academy instructors.

Ironically, I was brooding on that thought when we encountered--

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto hollered and waved his arms wildly in the air.

From across the street we were walking along, Iruka-sensei spun rapidly. He scanned the crowd around him until he saw us and smiled.

"Hi there, Naruto," he greeted warmly as he walked up to us. "And you too, Kiba and Hinata. What are the three of you up to? Not any mischief, I hope, though technically since I'm off the clock, that isn't really any of my business."

He grinned as he said this and I felt at ease. Of all the academy instructors, he was by far the one most genuinely concerned with his students' well being. He even took a very active interest in Naruto's recent attempts to close the gap between himself and the rest of the class and even occasionally checked in on us during our after school activities once he'd noticed what we were doing.

"Nah," Naruto assured him. "I'm way too busy lately to pull any pranks. Hinata-chan makes sure of that."

"So I've noticed," Iruka-sensei said. He turned to me. "Thanks for straightening him out, Hinata. I haven't had to give him a single detention for the past two weeks. I've stopped falling behind in grading tests and papers because of it."

An idea struck me then. It was hardly subtle and I doubted it would work, but I didn't see the harm in at least trying.

"I'm happy to be of help, Iruka-sensei," I said. "Though, I don't know how much longer that will last. After we graduate, I don't know if I'll be able to keep an eye on him anymore… unless we were to be put on the same team, of course…"

Iruka-sensei laughed. "Nice try, Hinata, but I'm afraid years of teaching have made me immune to that kind of canoodling from students. I can put in a good word for you three when I make team recommendations, but the decision ultimately rests with the Hokage."

Then he smiled sardonically.

"And that's assuming Naruto even passes this time. After failing his first three attempts at the graduation exam, I'm beginning to wonder if we won't be stuck together for all eternity."

"That's mean, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto pouted. "This time will be different. I'm not the same Naruto you knew!"

"Oh?" Iruka gasped in mock amazement. "That's very surprising because you look just like him!" He mussed Naruto's hair affectionately, much to his student's displeasure.

"Stop it, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto whined. "You're embarrassing me in front of Hinata-chan and Kiba!"

Kiba snorted. "Don't worry, Naruto. My opinion of you couldn't get any lower than it already is."

Naruto glared at Kiba, and Iruka-sensei only laughed harder.

"I'm glad you've made such good friends, Naruto," Iruka-sensei said once he'd calmed. "I don't know how much weight my opinion will have with the Hokage, but I'll definitely advise that the three of you be placed together on a team. After watching you practice with each other after school, I am very confident that you all would work together well as a genin squad."

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei," I bowed. Never let it be said that the man was not reasonable.

"Yeah, thanks, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto echoed. "Hey, we were about to go get some ramen. Did you want to come, too?"

Iruka shook his head. "I'd love to, Naruto, but I can't. There are a few errands I need to run," Upon seeing his crestfallen student, he added, "But how about I treat you three with a bowl to celebrate after you pass the graduation exam? I was just joking earlier, Naruto. I really believe you can do it this time."

Naruto instantly brightened. "Yeah! I'd like that!"

Iruka-sensei smiled. "Great, then it's a deal." He turned to leave. "You kids have fun, now. I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning."

"Iruka-sensei is a pretty good guy," Kiba said as we watched him leave.

"He's the best!" Naruto said adamantly.

"Best teacher I ever had, for sure," Kiba agreed. "And way better than Mizuki-sensei. Have you two noticed him acting kinda weird lately? I saw his reaction when Naruto passed the latest henge exam and he looked like someone shoved a stick up his butt. Does he have a grudge against you or something?"

Naruto frowned. "I don't think so. Most of the teachers don't like me very much, except for Iruka-sensei, though."

"This was different," Kiba said, shaking his head. "It was like he really hated you or something."

"I get that a lot," Naruto mumbled with his head downcast. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing unusual."

"Well it isn't fair," complained Kiba. "I mean, I can understand being annoyed with you because of all the crap you pull but holding it against you _that_ much? You're just a kid. Aren't adults supposed to know better? Some of the stuff you do is pretty funny, anyway. Like that time you defaced the Hokage monument?" He chortled. "Priceless."

Naruto's grin was even wider than usual and his eyes were a bit misty. "Yeah, that one was my masterpiece. I spent weeks planning it. Had to spy on the ANBU posted to that area and figure out when they relieved each other's shifts. I only had a small window of opportunity to get it done before they found me out."

"You thought it out that much?" I asked, honestly impressed.

"Yeah," Naruto shrugged. "Pulling pranks is sort of an art."

"But you haven't been doing it lately," Kiba pointed out.

"Well, yeah," Naruto said, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm busy training with you guys, after all. And… I guess I feel like I don't have to anymore."

Kiba and I shared a look. "What do you mean?" I asked.

Naruto grimaced. "Well… I mostly did that stuff so people would notice me, you know? Half the time, most of them won't even give me the time of day… And… And I guess…"

"And you thought negative attention was better than none at all," I finished for him.

He nodded, looking embarrassed.

His situation hadn't been so different from my counterpart's, though on a larger scale. She'd desperately craved our father's approval, and hated that she always disappointed him. But she thought even harsh words from him were better than silence. Maybe she had seen a kindred spirit in Naruto…

I made up my mind. I couldn't change the people of an entire village, but there was one thing I could do to help right this injustice. "I acknowledge you, Naruto Uzumaki," I said firmly.

"Same here," Kiba quickly added. "You're kind of goofy and a spaz sometimes, but you aren't really all that bad. I can tolerate you, anyway… most of the time."

I didn't know how Naruto might react to what we'd said, but I didn't expect him to just shrug. "I already knew that," he said. "Why else would you risk being caught dead in public with me?" Then he smiled softly. "But I appreciate it, guys. Thanks."

As we turned and continued our walk to Ichiraku's, I heard him choke back a sob but pretended I didn't hear.

The ramen tasted especially good that night.

* * *

Another week passed, with Naruto showing steady improvement. After the night we'd encountered Iruka-sensei, he seemed more motivated than ever and hardly complained at all, even when Kiba tried to provoke him.

For all that, he still couldn't beat either of us, but he was regularly landing clean strikes and if allowed to wear us down after an extended session, he could fight each of us on almost equal terms. That is, if one considered "equal terms" to be both Kiba and myself refraining from using the more potent forms of our clans' respective techniques.

Furthermore, his charka control through adequate mastery of the meditation techniques I'd been teaching allowed him to create clones and use other finer techniques without the need to seal his tenketsu.

After all was said and done, I was rather amazed by what he'd been able to accomplish in the span of three short weeks.

"You're not half bad," Kiba even admitted grudgingly on that last day. "A lot better than you were, anyway. Looks like you're not just all talk, after all."

"I'm very pleased with your progress, Naruto," I said, breaking my policy about lavish praise since it was the final day before the test. "If I hadn't seen it for myself, I never would've believed you could improve so much so quickly. You should be proud of what you've accomplished."

Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "You really think so?" he asked modestly.

"You should possess the skills to be able to pass the exam," I said. "That was our goal, after all, and I think we're going to meet it."

He looked relieved. "Finally!" he heaved. "I guess fourth time's the charm."

"I think it will be," I agreed.

"And if not, then at least you won't be at the bottom of next year's class!" Kiba added with a snicker.

"Consider that a vote of confidence from him, Naruto," I said, before he could retort. I'll admit it was sometimes tiresome playing peacemaker, but it did amuse me to see how two people who seemed so at odds could not only tolerate, but actually like each other. There was a lesson somewhere in there for me, I think.

"So we're done now for today, right?" asked Naruto.

"Yes," I said, nodding. "But tomorrow we take our first steps into a much larger world." I paused, thinking on the gravity of what I'd just said. I felt a melancholy wash over me, and the words just bubbled out of my mouth without conscious effort. "If… if Iruka-sensei is unable to move the Hokage, there's something I would like both of you to know."

Naruto and Kiba both looked to me with curious eyes.

"The past few weeks we've spent together have been the most fulfilling of my life," I told them, and I was surprised that I was able to admit it. "I hope that our time together has not come to an end, but if it has then I want you to know how much your friendships mean to me."

I still didn't have the first idea of what it truly meant to be a friend, or even have one, but I felt it becoming clearer to me with each passing day. And I knew enough to recognize that friendship was not something to be undervalued or tossed aside very easily.

"I hope that, even if we are placed on separate teams, that we can continue to keep in contact with one another. Should we be forced on our separate ways, I don't want the time we've shared together to fade into mere memory."

"It won't!" Naruto insisted passionately. "If the old man doesn't put us on the same team, then I'll take over his place and _make_ it happen!"

"Uh, Naruto?" Kiba interrupted. "Even if you _did_ become Hokage, then why in the heck would you be part of a genin team?"

"Sh-shut up!" Naruto said. Then his indignation left him and he sighed. "Okay, maybe not. But I'm gonna give him an earful if he doesn't listen to Iruka-sensei and I can be _really_ loud."

He tried to look confident, but I saw that him bite his lip and the way that his fist trembled. I knew how he felt. I didn't like knowing that some things were simply beyond my power to affect. Heir to the Hyuuga or no, I was in no position to tell the Hokage anything. I would simply have to trust in his benevolence and hope for the best.

I really hated being powerless…

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan," Naruto said, clasping me on the shoulder. "No matter what, I'll always be your friend. That's my promise of a lifetime." He looked away and frowned. "Oh, and uh, that goes for you too, Kiba. I guess…"

"What do you mean 'I guess'?" Kiba snarled.

And so they broke off into another of their petty squabbles, but I didn't pay them any mind. Naruto's words echoed within me. The promise of a lifetime…

You have my friendship as well, Naruto. And anyone who pays you an injustice that you don't deserve will have the heir to the Hyuuga clan to deal with. That, too, is a promise.

* * *

"That hitai-ate looks really good on you, Naruto," Iruka-sensei said. As he'd agreed, he treated us to free ramen the next day after we passed the graduation exam. Of course, that meant that Naruto had passed, too. I expected no less of my student… and my friend.

Naruto beamed as he adjusted his forehead protector. "It does, doesn't it?" he said smugly.

"It does," I agreed, and his face reddened.

"Let me formally congratulate you all on becoming genin!" Iruka-sensei said grandly. "It has been my honor to be your instructor for these past years, and I'm proud to have played a part in shaping you into the fine young shinobi you have each become. Though I'm a bit saddened to see it, I never had any doubt that this day would finally come when you could proudly declare yourselves ninjas of the Leaf!"

"Even me, Iruka-sensei?!" Naruto said eagerly, stars in his eyes.

Iruka-sensei laughed and mussed his hair. "Even you, Naruto."

Kiba snickered. "Even me, Iruka-sensei?!" he imitated mockingly.

Iruka-sensei laughed again, even as Naruto scowled. "That's enough, Kiba. Naruto has earned the right to be pleased with himself. Don't ruin his moment," he chided.

Kiba grumbled. "Yeah, I guess he did…"

"We all have," I said.

Iruka-sensei smiled. "That's true. And not to diminish the accomplishments of Naruto or Kiba, but I am especially pleased by the progress you've made lately, Hinata."

I blinked. "Me?" I asked.

"Yes, you," Iruka-sensei nodded. "There was a time when your father came to me expressing his… skepticism that you would make a suitable shinobi. While I didn't share his misgivings, it did worry me that you seemed to lack confidence in yourself. I've seen a great deal of growth from you in that area, though, and can see I never should have doubted you. And neither should your father have. I made certain to mention so to him earlier today."

"I…" my voice trailed off and I wasn't sure of what to say. "…thank you, Iruka-sensei…"

Iruka-sensei waved me off. "I was just doing my duty as a responsible instructor. Now, how about we dig into our ramen before it gets cold?"

"Way ahead of you, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said, gesturing to his empty bowl. "Can I have seconds?"

Iruka-sensei gaped at him but Kiba just rolled his eyes. I smiled. I'd learned to pace myself after devouring that first bowl when Naruto first introduced me to the dish, but still found it a delight to dine on.

Just then, there was a sudden shift in the wind, and a group of black-clad sinobi wearing masks bounded past us.

"Hey, wasn't that ANBU?" Kiba asked with a frown. "I wonder what's got them all worked up?"

"It looked like they came from the Hokage's Tower," added Naruto. "Do you think maybe something happened?"

Iruka-sensei's face was inscrutable, but then he shook his head. "Whatever it is, I'm sure they can handle it. That's why they're ANBU, after all. Let's just trust them to do their job."

"But maybe they could use our help?" Naruto said with a hopeful longing in his tone.

"No, Naruto," Iruka-sensei said firmly. "The ANBU are professionals. Three green genin and their academy instructor would only get in the way."

"Aww…" Naruto pouted for a moment, but then his ears perked up again. "So can I have seconds, then?"

Kiba laughed. "This guy has a one track mind."

Iruka groaned as he pulled out his wallet. "Fine, but this is the last one, Naruto."

"So did you put in team recommendations to the Hokage already, Iruka-sensei?" I asked.

Iruka-sensei had a sour look on his face as he handed over his money to a young girl, who I'd learned on a previous visit was Ichiraku-san's daughter, Ayame. Then he turned to me to answer my question.

"Yes, I did, in fact," he said. "And I gave you three a glowing recommendation. I can't guarantee it will be heeded, but I think there's a good chance of it. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out."

I bowed my head. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei."

"No, I should thank you, Hinata," Iruka-sensei said with a smile. "You've been a good influence on Naruto. I truly hope that you _are_ placed on a team together so that you can continue to be so."

I nodded. "There is far more to Naruto than people give him credit for," I replied.

"There is," Iruka-sensei agreed. Then we both heard a loud belch. After checking, I saw that Naruto's second bowl was now just as empty as the first. Iruka-sensei sighed. "…most of the time, anyway…"

Kiba and I chuckled, but Naruto stared at us in confusion. "What?" he asked.

Upon seeing the oblivious look on his student's face, Iruka-sensei joined in our laughter, which grew more boisterous.

"What?!" Naruto demanded. "What's so funny?!"

* * *

A/N: I don't have much to say about this chapter. It's a bit sappy, and focuses more on Naruto than Hinata, but that's meant to illustrate her growing interest in him. It's still a long way from any sort of romantic love, but we begin the see the cementing of their friendship and the mutual value they place on it. We also see that Yin Hinata's rough edges are starting to smooth.

It's worth noting that the incident with the Forbidden Scroll and Mizuki did not and will not happen in this timeline. That means that Naruto is still oblivious to the Kyuubi and he doesn't know how to make kage bunshin. I think too many stories use the technique as a crutch and completely blow it out of proportion, having Naruto create hundreds of sentient clones capable of independent thought and action from miles and miles away for anything from orgies to wiping his own ass after he uses the bathroom.

This deprives me the use of his most iconic battle technique, but I'm intrigued by the challenge of writing a story without it, though I may allow him to eventually pick it up from a different source.


	7. Upping the Pace

**Yin and Yang**

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Chapter 7 – Upping the Pace**

Naruto arrived early to class for once. I'd have wondered why he'd chosen to do so on the final day of class, of all days, but of course it was because we would be receiving our genin team assignments. He looked about as nervous as I felt, and his limbs shook as he collapsed into the seat next to me.

"S-So today's the big day, huh, Hinata-chan?" he laughed uneasily.

"Yes," I said. "I hope the Hokage saw reason and heeded Iruka-sensei's recommendations."

"Me too," Naruto sighed. "I think he probably did. The old man is kind of a stickler, but he can be nice, too."

"You say that as if you know him on a personal basis," I noted.

"Well, yeah," Naruto said with a nod, much to my surprise. "He checks up on me sometimes, and he's the one who gives me my monthly stipend so I can pay rent on my apartment and buy groceries and stuff."

I frowned. The Hokage was a very important man with countless responsibilities to attend. Why should he have found the time to take a personal interest in one particular orphan? Surely Naruto was not the only boy or girl to have lost his parents in some tragic twist of fate. I knew now that he was special in his own way, but were it not for my counterpart's request, I would never have given him so much as a second glance. Did the Hokage also possess a sort of preternatural ability to sense the untapped well of latent potential within an individual, or was there something more to the story that both Naruto and I were unaware of?

Well, I won't pretend to be able to understand the mind of the Hokage. He was our leader and surely had his reasons. Idle speculation on what those reasons might be wouldn't serve any purpose but to waste my own time and energy.

"So where's Kiba?" Naruto asked, looking around.

"He hasn't arrived yet," I said. "You're early, for once, and he's actually running a bit late."

"You think he's okay?" Naruto wondered aloud. "Maybe his alarm clock broke or something. What if he sleeps all day and misses the team assignments?"

"Don't compare me to yourself, Naruto," came the sarcastic reply. Kiba walked up to us with a small white dog on his heels. "I'm not such a scatterbrain that I'd miss today."

"Oh, good," Naruto said in relief, his nerves apparently so frayed that he either didn't notice Kiba's barb or chose to ignore it. "So who's your little friend?"

Kiba's canine companion barked enthusiastically.

"This is my partner, Akamaru!" Kiba said with a puffed chest. "We've been together since we were just pups, but my clan doesn't allow us to take our partners outside the compound until we become full-fledged ninja. You visited one time and met him before, Hinata, remember?"

"Of course," I lied through my teeth. "Hello again, Akamaru."

I got up from my seat and kneeled down, hesitantly extending a hand to pet the little dog. Akamaru padded forward and sniffed at my fingers before giving them a lick.

"He remembers you, too," Kiba said with a grin.

"Hey, I wanna pet him too!" Naruto declared. He swooped down and scratched Akamaru behind the ears. The puppy made a pleased whining sound. "Aww, he's a cute little fella. But are you sure you wanna take him around with you now that we're ninja? Maybe if he were bigger he could help in a fight or something, but he's so little and--"

Akamaru growled as though he could understand that Naruto was, literally, belittling him. Instantly, he snapped his tiny head around and clamped his teeth onto the hand Naruto had been petting him with.

"OUCH!"

He flailed his arm, but Akamaru clung fast, still growling angrily. "Get him off me! Come on, Kiba! Call him off!"

"You shouldn't underestimate him just because of his size," Kiba drawled as he watched the scene, the corners of his lips upturned in amusement. "I thought you of all people would understand something like that."

"Okay, I get it!" Naruto shouted. "I'm sorry, Akamaru! I didn't mean it!"

Immediately following Naruto's apology, the little dog released him and landed gracefully back on his feet. He then sat and gave another bark, tail wagging happily.

Naruto sucked on his hand where Akamaru had bitten him.

"He looks harmless, but he's actually quite fierce, isn't he?" I noted. "And he's obviously very loyal. I am reminded of another individual who shares these traits."

"Rah?" Naruto said as he continued to nurse his injury. "Ooozat?"

Kiba looked at me and rolled his eyes. I smiled. "Never you mind, Naruto…"

"Oooh! Look at the cute little puppy!" squealed a voice from nearby. I turned my head in the direction I'd heard it and saw Ino. She came up to us, scooping Akamaru into her arms and nuzzling him. The puppy whined in pleasure.

"He's just adorable!" Ino gushed. "Who does he belong to?"

"He doesn't belong to anyone," Kiba said with just a hint of steel in his voice. "His name is Akamaru and he and I are partners."

Ino blinked at him. "Huh? Oh…" She set Akamaru back on the ground. "Uh… sorry. I knew that your clan was pretty close to your dogs, but I didn't know you were _that_ close…"

It took Kiba a second to process Ino's implication. "We're not that kind of partners!" he growled furiously with a red face. "What the hell is wrong with your head, Ino? Is that all you think about?"

Ino laughed heartily. "I was joking, Kiba! You don't have to get so worked up. Or is it that I hit a bull's-eye?"

Kiba clenched a fist and bared his teeth. "Why don't you just sh--"

"Ugh, do you mind keeping it down over there?" a student in the row in front of us who'd been napping on his desk interrupted. His black hair was tied back and stuck up the back of his head, giving him the resemblance of a pineapple. "This is probably the last time I'll get to take it easy for a while. Go argue somewhere else, if you must."

Ino rounded on him. "What's with that lazy attitude, Shikamaru? We're ninja now! Show a little spirit!"

Shikamaru stared blearily at her. "What's the point? Spirit isn't going to complete my missions for me so it's just a waste of energy."

"Ugh, you're impossible!" Ino scowled in disgust. "I hope I don't end up on a team with you!"

"The feeling is mutual," Shikamaru grumbled as he lay his head back on his desk. "Troublesome girl…"

Originally, I'd found these volatile interactions with my classmates to be a nuisance, but admit that they now amused me somewhat. The clash of so many different personalities in an enclosed space was a completely foreign phenomenon for me, and I felt they might warrant closer study. The world beyond my tiny cell was chaotic, but also alive. I realized now that I should welcome new experiences rather than simply discard them as frivolous or burdening.

"Shouldn't you be fawning over Sasuke right now, Ino?" Naruto muttered sourly. He seemed to bear a hostility towards our classmate that I didn't quite understand.

"I have interests other than Sasuke, Naruto!" Ino snapped. "What do you even have against him anyway?"

"You mean besides the fact that he's a stuck up bastard?" Naruto replied darkly.

"You know what?" Ino said in a provocative tone. "I think you're just jealous of him. Sasuke-kun is twice the ninja you'll ever be. If it weren't for Hinata and Kiba, you probably wouldn't even have passed the graduation exam."

"Hey, you're going too far, Ino," Kiba said, stepping in. "Yeah, me and Hinata helped him, but Naruto worked his ass off. He deserves to wear his hitai-ate just as much as you do."

Naruto walked between them and placed his hand on Kiba's shoulder. "It's okay, Kiba. I can handle this." He turned back to Ino. "You're right, Ino. I _was_ jealous of Sasuke. I wanted to be just like him." He paused, and his gaze turned back to Kiba and then myself. "But not anymore. He might be one of the great Uchiha, and he might be popular, but for all that he doesn't have a single person to call his friend, and it's not because there's a shortage of people who are willing."

Naruto shook his head. "He's alone, and I thought that made him just like me. But now I know he and I aren't anything alike. He chooses to be alone, where all I ever wanted in the world was a single person to acknowledge me. Yeah, he's strong. And yeah, compared to him, I'm weak. But I don't resent him for that anymore. I feel sorry for him, because power is the only thing he values. It's the only thing he understands. I finally met a person just as strong as him, who understands the things that he doesn't."

He looked directly as me as he said this and then turned to Kiba. "I've met people who accept me for who I am and don't snub their noses at me just because I'm weaker than them." He turned back to Ino. "Maybe you're right. Maybe Sasuke is twice the ninja I'll ever be. But so what? He walks his path all by himself. Nobody can truly be strong if they don't know how to rely on others, sometimes."

Naruto sighed. "But I guess that doesn't give me the right to criticize you for liking him. A guy like him is only going to end up hurting you, but hey, don't let me get in your way if that's a chance you're willing to take."

He returned to his seat. It wasn't until then that I noticed the classroom had become deathly silent. Everyone, including the Uchiha boy, was staring at Naruto.

"What the hell happened to him?" I heard someone whisper. "Is that the same dead last Naruto?"

"Hey, Naruto might actually be kind of cool…" said another awed voice.

"How dare he talk like that about Sasuke-kun?!" said still another.

Ino blinked, staring at Naruto as though he was stranger.

There was a rush of movement and pink-haired girl slammed her hands down onto Naruto's desk.

"What gives you the right to say such horrible things about Sasuke-kun?!" she demanded. "He's at the top of our class and you graduated almost at the bottom! A dunce like you can't hold a candle to him!"

A wounded look flashed on Naruto's face, but then he bit his lip and his expression hardened. "Well sorry for being so dumb, Sakura-san. I guess the opinions of an idiot like me just don't matter."

"You're damn right they don't!" Sakura scowled, evidently unable to grasp that Naruto was being facetious. "You apologize to Sasuke-kun right now!"

Naurto cast a glance towards the Uchiha boy, who looked absolutely livid. "I'm sorry you're such a bastard," he said.

Sakura slapped him. "Do it properly! Or we can take this outside and settle things right now! I'm not going to let you get away with insulting Sasuke-kun's honor!"

Naruto touched his already reddening cheek. His fingers jerked away as soon as he made contact. His eyes began to water. Slowly, he rose from his seat. He turned towards Uchiha.

And then he bowed very low.

"I'm sorry for saying those things right in front of you. Even if I think they're true, I was out of line."

Uchiha's eyebrows knit together and he stared coldly at Naruto's bent form. He didn't say anything for a long time, and I could see the muscles in Naruto's back and waist begin to strain. Finally, he said, "Feh. Whatever." And he turned back to the front of the room.

Naruto let out a relieved gasp as he stood back up. Sakura wagged a finger at him. "You're lucky Sasuke-kun is so forgiving. If it were me, I would've taken you outside and taught you a lesson. You'd better keep your mouth shut about him from now on, or else…" She made a slitting gesture across her throat. "…a slap to the face is going to be the least of your worries."

Naruto was a far better person than I. Were I in his shoes, I would have never allowed that girl to speak to me in such a tone. And I especially would not have castrated myself before the Uchiha boy in such a humiliating manner. I'd known there was more to him than it seemed on the surface, but each new day revealed still hidden depths to him. His courage and his shame and humility humbled me. My counterpart had been correct about this boy. Someday he might make a very fine Hokage, indeed.

There was sparse applause from a few girls after Sakura was finished speaking. I glared at them, activating my Byakugan as I did so, and it quickly stopped.

Kiba put a hand on Naruto's back. "Hey, let's sit down now, Naruto. Iruka-sensei should be here soon with the team assignments."

"Y-Yeah," Naruto stuttered. "Sure. Thanks Kiba."

He returned to his seat next to mine while Kiba took the chair on his opposite side. I could see he was trying very hard not to look at me.

I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I moved and placed my hand over his. At first he stiffened at my touch. Slowly he turned his head, and I finally could confirm that he was crying. Not so long ago, I would have considered the behavior one of cowardice and weakness and thought less of him for it.

Now… now I felt that boy with tears flowing from his eyes was the bravest person I'd ever had the honor of knowing. That one such as him would deem me worthy of the title of his friend humbled me far more than any loss in battle ever could. How was it that so few people could see what an extraordinary person he really was?

I looked at him, and there was pain. Right at that moment, I wanted more than anything to take that pain and throw it at the pink-haired girl magnified a hundred fold. Instead, I smiled at him. Though the tears didn't stop, he smiled back. I felt terrible that I couldn't do more for him than that, but he had his demons to face and I had my own.

I doubted I would fare half so well as him, but I would draw courage from his example when the time finally came.

Iruka-sensei finally entered the room soon after the incident. He seemed bewildered by how silent the room was. If someone had dropped a needle, the tiny _ping_ as it hit the ground would have been as audible as a bullhorn.

"Er… I'm happy to see you all," he said, clearing his throat. "I've just returned from speaking with the Hokage, and he has given me his final decisions on the make-up of the three man genin cells you will now be separated into. Realize that no single shinobi is capable of everything himself. Your teammates will balance out your weaknesses with their own strengths, just as you will balance theirs. Learn to trust each other, because you hold one another's lives in your hands. Every life is precious and should not be squandered. Bring honor to yourselves and your village by preserving life whenever possible, and being swift and merciful when it must be taken. The path we shinobi walk is often paved with blood, but never forget what it means to take a life. All of us share the same fate in death, and the dead are to be honored, be they your fellow ninja of the Leaf or those of an enemy village."

He tone softened. "Too often do many good shinobi forget this. They come to view lives as commodities to be bought, sold, and bartered. I hope that none of you ever fall prey to such cynicism. Yes, there are times when we must take a life, sometimes even an innocent one. But never forget that we are all human, as well as shinobi. A shinobi takes a life, but a human mourns death. To forget this is to rob the meaning of the lives we take. The shinobi of Konoha are not like other villages. We take no pleasure in the taking of a life. We do as we must in service of our friends, our families, and our village. That is our will of fire! May yours always burn brightly, even in the blackest darkness."

He bowed to us, and not a single soul in the room stirred.

I had never heard a ninja express such views before. It went beyond all logic. A shinobi is an instrument of death. In our world, blood flows like water. Death, both those of others and eventually our own, was simply an unavoidable hazard in our line of work.

Yet, Iruka-sensei's words moved me. I don't know if I believed them, but I think I wanted to. I had never heard the will of fire expressed so eloquently. I touched the hitai-ate around my neck. It identified me as a shinobi of Konohagakure. I had never been more proud of that fact than I was at that moment.

"Iruka-sensei, you're SO cool!" Naruto gushed from next to me. There were a few scattered laughs and all at once the tension drained from the room. I smiled, glad that Naruto had returned to his usual self.

Iruka-sensei chuckled. "There's no point in cozying up to me anymore, Naruto. You've already graduated!"

A few more laughs from the students echoed through the room.

"Now, I know you didn't all come today to listen to me lecture you. I'm sure you've had your fill of that after the years we've spent together. So without further delay, allow me to read aloud your genin team assignments, as dictated by the Hokage himself."

Naruto leaned in close to me. "I hope we get put together," he whispered.

"As do I, Naruto," I said back. And I made a secret wish with all my heart that it would be so.

* * *

"Hello to you all," my new jounin sensei said to my teammates and me. "My name is Kurenai Yuuhi and it will be my honor to act as your new captain and mentor of your assigned genin cell. Allow me to congratulate you on making it this far in your careers as shinobi. It is my hope that you will continue to grow and flourish under my tutelage as you aspire to even greater heights."

I bowed to her. "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Yeah!" Naruto chirped from my side. "I can't wait to learn some awesome new moves from you!"

"Heh," Kiba said snidely from my opposite side. "Simmer down, idiot. You're going to give her a bad impression of us."

"No, I'm not!" Naruto denied hotly. "Am I, Kurenai-sensei?"

Kurenai-sensei blinked. "I take it you all are familiar with each other?" she asked us.

My estimation of her rose by a point. She'd proven already that she was not unobservant.

"Yep!" Naruto confirmed brightly. "Hinata-chan is the best friend I ever had! Oh, and Kiba is cool too, I guess."

"Stop adding 'I guess' when you talk about me!" Kiba snarled. Akamaru barked his consensus.

Kurenai-sensei pinched the bridge of her nose and I mentally awarded her another point.

"Settle down, boys," she reprimanded. "Save that energy for when we start performing missions. For now, I'd like for you to introduce yourselves. This is primarily for my benefit because you all seem to know each other quite well already."

"Is there anything specific you would like us to tell you?" I asked.

"Start with your names," she nodded. "I'd also like to hear why you each decided to become ninja and what goals you have for the future. As your new sensei, I will go first."

She took a breath. "As I mentioned earlier, my name is Kurenai Yuuhi. I became a ninja because I desired to protect this village and the people whom I care about from our enemies. My current goal is to get the three of your prepped to become chuunin and hopefully teach you a thing or two along the way."

"Ooh, me next!" Naruto volunteered enthusiastically. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I became a ninja because ninjas are super awesome and kick a lot of butt! My goal is to one day become Hokage and be acknowledged by everyone in the village!"

Kurenai-sensei and I bore similar looks of incredulity when Naruto revealed his reason for becoming a ninja. Yet another point in her favor. Naruto pouted at me and against my will, I smiled. He grinned back, looking pleased with himself.

"Thank you, Naruto," Kurenai-sensei said patiently. "That's a very lofty goal but I will do what I can to help you on your path to achieving it in the time we have together." She smiled at him and I decided then that I both liked and respected the woman.

"Guess I'll go next," Kiba grunted. "The name's Kiba Inuzuka and this is my partner, Akamaru." Akamaru barked once. "I became a ninja because my whole family are ninjas and I also want to prove my strength against strong opponents. As for goals, can't really say I have any. I guess maybe to get good enough to beat my older sister."

"Thank you, Kiba," Kurenai-sensei said evenly. "I am familiar with your sister, Hana, and know that she happens to be an excellent shinobi. Aspiring to best her is a worthy goal, and I will endeavor to aid you in what capacity I can as your sensei."

"I suppose that leaves me," I said. "My name is Hinata Hyuuga. I became a ninja because ninja are strong, and I wish to become as strong as I can so that I might one day free my clan from its self-harming traditions, such as the Caged Bird Seal. That is my highest goal."

Kurenai blinked at me. "You're the heir to the Hyuuga clan," she said. "But I'd heard…" She shook her head. "No, never mind. I am aware of the situation concerning your main and branch families, and believe your goal to be very worthy, indeed. I would be honored if the lessons you learn from me prove to be of any help as you strive to make it a reality. I do suggest, however, that you not speak of it so freely again. This is a ninja village, after all, and even the walls have ears…"

I felt appalled, realizing what a grave mistake I'd nearly made. Why did I tell her of my plans? I should never have been so open with such sensitive information.

Was I… becoming too soft?

The thought almost threatened to consume me when I remembered what Naruto had done earlier, and also the actions of my counterpart when I tried to goad her into battle.

"Soft" was not "weak". There were more paths to strength than the domination of others. Naruto and my other self had taught me that. It was a lesson I would carve into my heart so that I might never forget it again.

"Thank you for your candid responses," Kurenai-sensei said. "I feel I have a better idea of what motivates each of you now, and believe this knowledge will aid me as I perform my duties as your new sensei. I'd like to open the floor now to any questions you may have for me."

Naruto's hand shot up instantly.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"What kind of jutsu do you know, Kurenai-sensei?" he asked curiously.

"I suppose that's a fair enough question," Kurenai-sensei admitted. "I am a genjutsu specialist, but like any other jounin, my skills in both ninjutsu and taijutsu are not unimpressive. I was only recently promoted to my rank, but please do not assume I am somehow inferior to my peers because of it."

She flashed a grin and it almost looked feral. "Those who question my capabilities on account of either my gender or perceived inexperience will find that I take exception to such bigotry. The ones who do not recant their mistakes in this area often come to regret it later."

I completely threw out my point system from earlier. This woman now had a special place in my heart.

Naruto shuddered. "Th-thanks for the answer…"

Even Kiba looked subdued and Akamaru was whining softly.

"Are there any other questions?" Kurenai-sensei asked.

Naruto raised his hand again, albeit more hesitantly this time. "When will we be getting our first mission?"

"Tomorrow," Kurenai-sensei answered promptly. "Today, I'd simply like to see some of your skills in action so that I have an idea of where each of you needs improvement. I will alter your training regimen both as individuals and as a team based on my assessment of your abilities. Is there anything else before we proceed?"

The room was silent.

Kurenai-sensei nodded. "Then let's not waste any time. Do you all know where Training Ground Four is?"

Naruto, Kiba, and I all shared a look.

"I think we do," Naruto said smugly.

"You three are going to have to tell me your story eventually," Kurenai-sensei said with a frown. Then she formed a hand seal and was replaced by a whirl of falling leaves.

The three of us stared.

"Jounin are SO cool!" Naruto gushed.

Kiba and I nodded our agreement. Akamaru barked.

* * *

The three of us, or rather four including Akamaru, were sweating profusely by the time Kurenai-sensei had finished her assessment. First she had us demonstrate our chakra control by ordering us to walk upside-down on the tips of our fingers for as long as possible. If we sent too much chakra to our digits, then we would drain our reserves very quickly and soon collapse. Not enough and they wouldn't even support our weight.

After a half hour of this exercise, she tested each of us individually in hand-to-hand combat. She hadn't been kidding about her taijustsu skills being "not unimpressive". Naruto spent most of his time either sitting or lying on the ground and Kiba and I barely fared any better. None of us could come close to breaching her defenses and I wondered if the frustration I felt was anything like Naruto's when he'd trained with me.

After we'd been suitably winded, she allowed all three of us to attack her at once. If anything, we performed even worse. Our attacks were uncoordinated and we ended up hitting each other far more often than Kurenai-sensei. Actually, we didn't hit her even once.

Finally, she demonstrated her prowess with genjutsu and put us all into a series of horrifying imaginary scenarios ranging from the bloodied, beaten bodies of our teammates to the sacking and burning of Konoha. I was forbidden to use my Byakugan to escape her illusions. She called my clan's bloodline limit a "crutch". Ordinarily, I would have taken offense and argued, but I was so physically drained by then that I simply didn't have the energy to.

She explained that genjutsu was merely a means of binding an artificial chakra construct to another's chakra circulatory system. The foreign chakra would manipulate a person's five senses into experiencing whatever the illusion caused them to suffer, and even if our bodies suffered no physical damage, the nerve impulses for pain would still feel just as real to our brains.

We were to learn to escape her mental traps by temporarily halting the flow of chakra through our bodies and thus causing the foreign chakra construct to fall away with nothing left to bind to. She even demonstrated how to do it for us. But it was a far different thing to perform the simple technique under mental duress, even armed with the knowledge that it wasn't real!

After the tenth time she'd placed me under an illusion and I'd failed to break it, I was so disoriented that my internal dialogue filters failed and I idly commented about her being a rather articulate and well-mannered sadist.

She laughed at that, and said something about hoping I should never meet "Anko", whatever that meant.

After our egos had finally finished being ground into a fine powder, she allowed us to rest as she voiced her evaluation.

"You all have above average skills for fresh genin," she told us as we lay on the ground gasping for air. "I find this a pleasant surprise because Naruto in particular graduated from the academy with a less than flattering grade point average."

Naruto let out a strangled wheeze.

"Hinata, you have the best chakra control. This comes as no surprise, given the nature of your clan's Gentle Fist. Your taijutsu is also the most developed for the same reason."

I tried to nod, but my head just sort of lilted to the side.

"Naruto and Kiba, you've exceeded my expectations in both areas and should not be discouraged," she continued. "Do not feel that Hinata's inborn advantage gives her an edge that you cannot hope to overtake. The Byakugan does have its weaknesses, despite what the Hyuuga clan would have us believe."

Naruto and Kiba stared listlessly at her with their eyes.

"All three of you need to practice on breaking genjutsu," Kurenai-sensei informed us. "It is an essential skill for all shinobi to have and we will continue to train until you are successful one hundred out of one hundred times. Hinata, I must inform you that there are some advanced genjutsu techniques that your Byakugan will not help you dispel. It would be best if you did not rely on it and also learn the traditional method used by most shinobi. In any case, it never hurts to have more weapons in your arsenal or skills in your repertoire."

I tried to nod again, and failed for the second time.

"You also need to learn how to attack in tandem. You have teammates for a reason. I believe you grasp the principle of this, and only need to learn the proper execution. This is another thing we will work on in our time together as a group."

Then Kurenai-sensei finally smiled. "That being said, you all did quite well. I was impressed. Allow me to congratulate you on passing my test. Your completion of my drills showed me your skill and the fact that you didn't run for the hills screaming showed me your will. It will be an honor to take you on as my students."

She looked down at our prone bodies. "I want you to rest up for the remainder of today and meet me at the entrance to the Hokage's Tower tomorrow at 0800 hours, where we will receive and proceed to undertake our first mission. That is all."

And then she was gone with a fluttering of leaves.

The three of us spent a very long time lying there on the training field. Not surprisingly, Naruto recovered first. He got up shakily to his knees before assisting Kiba and myself in doing the same.

"J-Jounin are s-scary…" he shuddered.

Kiba and I nodded our agreement. Akamaru whimpered his.

* * *

A/N: I'm interested in hearing the comments on this chapter, particularly on the confrontation between Naruto and Sakura/Sasuke and my portrayal of Kurenai. I think Naruto's canon teammates made for very poor examples of friendship and Kakashi's lackadaisical teaching style made the copy nin a terrible role model.

Concerning the genin test… even if there's no basis in canon on which to infer that any sensei besides Kakashi has one, I feel like there should be. Genin are going to graduate from the academy thinking they're hot stuff and, especially being the pre-teens that they are, need a whopping serving of humble pie. They need to see that a jounin will eat little baby genin for breakfast and it's a lesson that needs to come hard and fast so there's no doubt in their minds that they're the low man on the totem pole.

I'd make some more commentary, but I don't want to taint the feedback I get for this chapter. It's a key turning point in many ways (Could I be more ambiguous?) and I want honest opinions.


	8. Ill Omen

**Yin and Yang**

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Chapter 8 – Ill Omen**

We gathered outside the Hokage's tower at the appointed time the next morning where we found Kurenai-sensei waiting for us. Surprisingly, I found Naruto had arrived before me. He smiled when he saw me and began to chat away animatedly after we exchanged greetings. Though as energetic as ever, I noticed faint dark pigmentation under his eyes and knowing him, he'd likely been on pins and needles all night anticipating the events that were about to unfold. When Kiba joined us a few minutes later with Akamaru in tow, they too seemed to have an extra bounce in their steps.

In contrast, I found myself strangely unaffected. Today was only a single step forward down a path for me that seemed to have no end. How long would I have to keep Neji and Uncle Hizashi waiting for justice?

"Good, you're all here."

I think I jumped a few inches off the ground when I heard a sudden voice speak from behind my ear.

"Gah!" Naruto bested me by at least a whole foot.

Kiba grinned at us both, a smug, self-satisfied glint in his eyes. "Relax, you two. It's just Kurenai-sensei."

We turned found ourselves face to face with our jounin instructor, just as he'd claimed.

"Oh?" Kurenai-sensei said with a slight frown when she looked at Kiba. "You were able to sense me?"

Kiba shook his head. "No, but Akamaru did. He told me you were coming."

"You could have told _us_," Naruto growled angrily. I added my glare to his own.

Kiba wasn't impressed. He laughed aloud, slapping his knee. "And where would the fun in that have been?"

"Hmm…" Kurenai-sensei bent over until she was almost at eye-level with Akamaru. She stared appraisingly while the little dog held his head high with pride. "You have a lot of talent for one so young," she said at last. Then she straightened her back and looked at the rest of us. "The rest of you should follow Akamaru's example."

Fortunately for Naruto, Kurenai-sensei had already turned her back and was walking towards the tower when his mouth fell agape. It was an unflattering look for him. I'll admit to sharing a certain amount of his incredulity, however, along with a faint itch of an annoyance at having been bested by a dog. I doubted if I would ever live down that shame.

Naruto grumpily fell into line behind Kurenai-sensei, his head down and arms crossed. Kiba followed suit with a more chipper demeanor but I lingered behind, still staring at Akamaru. He cocked his tiny head to the side and stared back.

I waited until the rest of our group was out of earshot, and then whispered from the corner of my mouth, "I won't lose to you again."

His impudent little smile only soured my mood even further.

After receiving a mission scroll from the Sandaime himself, Kurenai-sensei motioned for us to wait outside when he requested to have a private word with her.

"What do you think she's talking with him about?" Naruto whispered conspiratorially.

I rolled my shoulders but Kiba said, "You, I bet. Probably wants to trade you in for another genin who isn't such a bigmouth."

"I'm not a bigmouth!" Naruto protested loudly. Kiba and I both shot him deadpan stares and he pouted. "Fine, I'm a bigmouth. But you're both friends with a bigmouth, so bleh!" And he stuck his tongue out at us.

"He has us there," I sighed, feeling a headache coming on. The day was not off to a good start.

"I just hope he doesn't start to rub off on us," Kiba groaned.

Shortly thereafter, Kurenai-sensei joined up with us again and we followed her a short way until she stopped in the shade of an old oak tree near the academy. Naruto, Kiba, and I sat cross-legged on the ground as Kurenai-sensei unfurled the mission scroll and began to read aloud from it. Naruto leapt to his feet soon after she started.

"I refuse," he said flatly. He forcibly ripped off his hitai-ate and thrust it at Kurenai-sensei while keeping it clenched in a tight grip. "I thought this was proof that we're ninja now!" he complained loudly, not that he ever complained quietly. "I busted my butt to earn the right to wear it and now you're telling me it was all pointless?"

Kurenai-sensei weathered his childish tantrum without comment. Naruto's over-the-top personality was something of an acquired taste, and she hadn't been exposed to him long enough to acquire it. For a shinobi of her rank, she struck me as an unusually patient person but I could tell by the way that her eyebrow twitched that even she had her limits.

"I don't recall saying anything of the sort," she said in a clipped tone.

Naruto replaced his hitai-ate around his forehead, then folded his arms and frowned. "Babysitting," he deadpanned. "Our first-ever mission as ninja is babysitting."

"Yes," Kurenai-sensei said unapologetically. "I selected a mission I thought suitable for your current abilities."

Naruto scowled at her words, and even I felt slightly insulted. Granted, the three of us were only newly initiated shinobi, but surely any civilian citizen could look after a child. Were Kurenai-sensei not my direct superior and for the fact that, quite frankly, the woman somewhat terrified me after yesterday's events, I would have added my own voice to Naruto's at that point.

"That is bull!" my orange-clad teammate objected. "We're better than that! Way better!"

"Oh?" Kurenai-sensei said in a deceptively mild voice that sent chills up my spine. "I seem to recall that not a single one of you could land a clean blow on me yesterday afternoon."

'W-well, yeah…" Naruto stuttered, his confidence flagging. "But you're a jounin!"

"And I suppose you think Konoha has a monopoly on jounin level shinobi?" Kurenai-sensei said.

"I guess not… but-"

"But nothing. Make no mistake Naruto, you are still a green academy graduate that any chuunin or a more seasoned genin could dispatch with ease." She turned to Kiba and me. "The same applies to the both of you. What ever bloodline limits or clan techniques you may possess, nothing trumps real combat experience. Compared to nearly any enemy shinobi we're likely to encounter out in the field, you're all barely out of your swaddling clothes."

My teammates and I were not at all happy, but couldn't deny the truth of her words and held our tongues. Beside me, Kiba grunted his displeasure but didn't argue. Naruto merely scowled and looked away from Kurenai-sensei.

Our team leader sighed and rolled up the scroll she'd been referencing. "On your feet, all of you," she snapped. "We've already wasted too much time. I'll explain the rest of the mission en route to our client."

We obeyed like good little genin, even Naruto, though he muttered the discontent we were all feeling under his breath.

"As I was saying," Kurenai-sensei said as we followed her lead, "the parents of the child we'll be supervising today are both ninja and their duties have forced them to leave the village for a short time. The boy has a private tutor who doubles as his caretaker in such situations, but this man, also a shinobi, was injured and won't be released from the hospital until later this evening. We'll be overseeing the safety of the child in his place, until we can release the boy back into his custody."

"In other words, we're babysitting some brat for a day," Naruto groused. "How old is this kid supposed to be, anyway?"

"Eight," Kurenai-sensei answered.

Kiba let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I was afraid we might have to change diapers or something. But I guess if he's that old, he shouldn't be too hard to keep in line."

"I wouldn't be so certain of that," Kurenai-sensei warned. "His grandfather tells me the boy can be quite the handful."

"You spoke with his grandfather?" I asked in confusion. "Why can't he look after his own grandson?"

"Unfortunately, his duties don't afford him that luxury," Kurenai-sensei said. "He's a very busy man."

"Too busy for his own family?" Kiba scoffed. "Mom raised me and Hana practically by herself and she's the clan head. What does this kid's granddad do that's so important?"

Kurenai-sensei looked over and gave him a thin-lipped smile. "He's the Hokage."

* * *

I must still have been suffering from lingering effects of exhaustion the day before because the short journey to the hospital left me winded, though Kiba and obviously Naruto looked unaffected. I couldn't imagine why only I was affected. While, objectively speaking, I probably had the least amount of stamina between the three of us, I'd had adequate time to rest and had slept well the night before.

My sparring sessions with Father and Neji continued at regular intervals in the evenings after I returned home from my practice with Kiba and Naruto, and even all of that physical exertion including drills at the academy never wore me down enough to affect me the next day.

Perhaps it was a testament to Kurenai-sensei's effectiveness at pushing me to my limits. Or perhaps I was merely coming down with a cold. Either way, I set aside the worries in my mind to focus on the task at hand.

We first glimpsed the Hokage's grandson as we entered his caretaker's hospital room. A masked member of ANBU restrained the boys arms, who was hollering his protestations at the top of his lungs.

"Let me go! You can't treat me like this! I'm going to be the Godaime Hokage!"

Both the words the boy spoke and the volume with which he spoke them reminded me immediately of a certain blonde troublemaker. Physically, there wasn't much of a resemblance besides shortness of stature relative to their gender and respective age groups and poor taste in clothing. Even in the latter category, the younger boy at least sported a more diverse mix of colors with grey shorts, a blue scarf so long it dangled below his toes, and a yellow t-shirt with Konoha's leaf symbol imprinted on the front in red. The miniature tornado with a mop of spiky brown hair flailed his arms wildly, trying to hit his captor, but the ANBU operative didn't seem to even notice.

"I said let me go! Don't think I won't forget this once I take Jiji's job!"

"Shut up, you damn brat!"

Naruto marched up to the boy and screamed back twice as loudly. Almost immediately the child ceased his struggling and stared at Naruto like he was some alien being. As the honored grandson of the Sandaime Hokage, I expect no one had ever spoken to him in such a manner before. Perhaps if someone had, he wouldn't have grown into a boy so eerily similar to my teammate with an over fondness for orange and loud proclamations of unfounded bravado.

"That's better," Naruto said with a satisfied nod. He looked up to the ANBU operative. "Hey ANBU-san, we'll take it from here. This little punk is our mission today."

The black-clad man looked from Naruto to Kurenai-sensei.

"It's fine," our team leader said with a nod.

The ANBU operative inclined his head and released the boy, who fell on his behind as he continued to stare at Naruto. Kurenai-sensei kneeled down to help him up at the same time as the ANBU member silently left the room.

"Is Ebisu-san here?" she asked with a warm smile. The boy turned to her, noticing her presence for the first time. A faint blush touched his cheeks and he nodded slowly, pointing towards a bed in the corner of the room where a nurse was attending a patient.

Kiba and I followed Kurenai-sensei as she approached the bed. Naruto and the boy seemed to have returned to their staring contest and none of us bothered to interrupt them.

The man in the bed also had his eyes trained on Naruto, and in them I saw the same hard look in his eyes that Neji always had when he spoke with me or my father.

"Ebisu-san," Kurenai-sensei greeted. "How are you feeling? Better than you look, I hope."

I'd been so intent on studying the man's eyes up until then that I hadn't noticed the rest of his body. The few patches of skin where he wasn't bandaged, I could see dark, black bruises and fresh cuts that had only just begun to heal. His face was wrought in a stern expression, dark eyebrows angled inwards with a slight curl to his upper lip.

"It's nothing I don't deserve," Ebisu said in response, though his eyes never left Naruto. "I'm always lecturing the young master of how he must never underestimate an opponent, and what you see is the cost of having made that very mistake. Damn that Mizuki…"

The name briefly caught my ear, making think of our academy instructor, Mizuki-sensei, but I quickly put it out of mind. While the man was a mostly competent teacher, I couldn't imagine him doing damage of that scale to an enemy, much less a fellow Konoha shinobi.

Kiba shot me a confused look that informed me he'd followed a similar train of thought. I looked back to Naruto but he was still concentrating on the young boy from earlier. Both of their eyes had begun to water from the strain of their silly contest.

No matter. The name was most likely a coincidence.

"But never mind me, Kurenai-san," Ebisu continued. "I take it that your genin team has accepted the mission to safeguard young master Konohamaru?"

"Yes," Kurenai-sensei affirmed. "Will you have had enough time to recover when we're scheduled to return him to you?"

"If this woman who isn't even a medic-nin is to be believed," Ebisu sniffed, causing the nurse to eye him with disdain. "But… that boy. Is he…?"

"He is a member of my genin squad, yes," Kurenai-sensei said curtly. "Naruto, come here."

Naruto's head snapped up the moment his name was called, turning towards us.

"Ha!" the boy whom Ebisu had identified as Konohamaru exclaimed triumphantly. "You blinked first!"

Naruto turned back and growled at him. "No way! That doesn't count!"

"Does too!" Konohamaru taunted, sticking his tongue out.

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Naruto," Kurenai-sensei snapped. "Over here. Now."

Naruto's back straightened instantly and he was on his feet at our team leader's side in moments. "Yes, Kurenai-sensei!"

Sensei put a hand on his shoulder. "Ebisu-san, this is Naruto Uzumaki."

"Uzumaki…" Ebisu echoed under his breath. As he looked at Naruto, his stare from earlier only intensified. "Kurenai-san, I must object to his presence. The boy in a known malcontent and would prove a poor influence on the young master."

"What-" Naruto started to say, but Kurenai-sensei squeezed his shoulder and cut him off.

"Naruto passed his examinations and is a full fledged shinobi of the Leaf," she said. "His pranking days are behind him, aren't they, Naruto?"

She tightened her grip as she ended the question, causing Naruto to wince. "Y-yes, sensei."

Kurenai-sensei smiled. "Very good. May I also introduce Naruto's teammates, Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuuga. Oh, and we mustn't forget our little friend, Akamaru."

Kiba raised a hand in acknowledgement and I allowed a single, stiff nod. Akamaru barked at the mention of his name.

"I accept full responsibility for the actions of my subordinates, Ebisu-san," Kurenai-sensei said. "I am quite confident that they won't disappoint me." There was an edge of warning in her tone that made my teammates and I audibly gulp.

We didn't have any desire to see what she might do to us if we _did_ disappoint her, not after yesterday's "test" she had given us.

Ebisu's lips twisted sourly. "I suppose if there are no alternatives…" he said while continuing to glare at Naruto. "Enough. I suggest that you and your team return to the Hokage's Tower immediately."

Kurenai-sensei frowned. "Ebisu-san, I'm sure you are aware of the current staff shortages. If you hope to replace us with another team…"

Ebisu started to shake his head, but stopped before completing a quarter rotation and squealed in a high-pitched, almost comical howl of pain. His attending nurse rolled her eyes, fluffed his pillow, and helped him ease back onto the bed.

"I warned you not to make any sudden movements," she chastised. "I can't promise you will recover enough to check out today if you keep ignoring my advice."

"Yes, well…" Ebisu cleared his throat. "You misunderstood my meaning, Kurenai-san. I meant you ought to depart for the Hokage's Tower should you hope to intercept the young master."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto demanded. "The brat is right over…" His voiced trailed off as we all trained our eyes to where he was pointing. The Hokage's grandson was absent from the space he'd been occupying only moments earlier.

Ebisu smiled grimly. "The young master entertains fanciful notions of usurping his grandfather, Sandaime-sama's position, and frequently makes less than successful assassination attempts."

"That kid actually thinks an eight-year old has a chance of beating the Hokage?" Kiba mused. "Congratulations, Naruto. We finally found someone dumber than you."

"Young man," Ebisu growled angrily. "Inuzuka-san, was it? Need I remind you that you are referring to the honored grandson of the Sandaime Hokage?"

"The hell does that matter?" Naruto retorted. "_He's_ not the Hokage. His grandpa is. Big-"

"Naruto," Kurenai-sensei warned.

"Yes, sensei," he responded automatically, ending his tirade before it started and standing at attention.

"Our destination is the Hokage's Tower," Kurenai-sensei said, cutting to the heart of affairs. I liked that about her. Finally a serious model for an aspiring kunoichi. The fact that I was slightly afraid of her only made me want to emulate her more. "I want the three of you to go ahead. I still have a few questions for Ebisu-san. Hinata, you're in charge until I can meet up with you. Keep those two in line."

I raised my arm across my chest in an impromptu salute. "Yes, Sensei!"

We left in the most expedient manner available to us: through the window. But before we were out of earshot, I heard the nurse say in a tone of resigned frustration, "Why can't ninja ever be bothered to use the door?"

As we got underway, leaping across the rooftops, Naruto was the first to voice his complaints. "Man, we just _came_ from the Hokage's Tower and now we're going back? Once we find him, I'm gonna hogtie that little squirt."

"You might not want to do that in front of the Sandaime, Naruto," I suggested. "He might not approve of you treating his grandson that way."

"Hey, Iruka-sensei's done way worse to me when he caught me pulling pranks," Naruto said defensively. "And even I never tried to kill the old man."

"Man, what a pain in the neck," Kiba groused. "I was hoping our first mission would involve a VIP or something, but not like this. Now we'll have to use kid gloves with this munchkin or we'll catch crap with the Hokage and that Ebisu joker."

"I'm more worried about what Kurenai-sensei might do if we screw up," Naruto said with a shudder. He turned to me. "So she put you in charge, huh, Hinata-chan?"

She had. And I was rather relieved, to be honest. Given her propensity for mind games and psychological warfare, I'm not sure I would have been surprised if sensei had appointed Akamaru to command.

"Is that a problem for you, Naruto?" I asked. I tried to imitate Kurenai-sensei's placid yet somehow threatening tone she used when issuing orders.

"No, no!" Naruto said with a touch of panic in his voice. "I just thought that, you know, I might make a good squad leader." I'd barely cocked an eyebrow when he amended hastily, "Not that I'd do a better job than you! I'd just like to give it a try is all… for practice when I'm Hokage."

Kiba snorted. "There's not a chance in hell of me taking orders from a pipsqueak like you."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto growled. "Well you'll _have _to once I'm Hokage!"

I waited for Kiba's inevitable retort. I'd known it was only a matter of time before my two teammates instigated another silly spat for an even sillier reason. And with Kurenai-sensei absent, it would be up to me to break it up, as I'd done at least a few dozen times before.

His reaction was more subdued than I'd been expecting, however.

"Will you give the Hokage thing a rest for once?" he complained. "We get the idea, okay? Just saying it over and over isn't going to make it happen."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Naruto's face go blank. Whatever emotions had passed through him at that moment were masked beyond my perception. The expression wasn't unfamiliar to me; it was the same one I wore at home in my clan's compound. But it struck me as singularly peculiar on Naruto's normally expressive face.

"Kiba-kun…" I started to say, only to find I didn't know how to continue. Was I supposed to reprimand him for being honest, even when I agreed with him on a certain level? Yet, despite not even knowing why, I felt the need to say _something_. Naruto's reaction, or rather his lack of one, bothered me.

Kiba apparently didn't hear me because he didn't react after I said his name.

"Heh, yeah I guess I must sound like a broken record by now," Naruto said with a soft chuckle and when I looked over to him again he was smiling good-naturedly. "I'll try to tone it down from now on."

Kiba only grunted in response. As we drew closer to the Hokage's Tower, further conversation ceased. Under ordinary circumstances I'd have been glad for the peaceful respite, but the silence felt heavy, almost oppressive.

"We're getting close," Kiba finally said when we'd almost reached our destination. "I'll take point with Akamaru. His nose will be able to find the kid a lot faster than any of us."

He quickened his pace and pushed ahead of us, Akamaru bounding after him. After he left, Naruto's grin faded and he grew pensive. It wasn't consistent with his typical behavior at all. It also wasn't any of my business, but against my better judgment, I asked him about it.

"Is there something on your mind, Naruto?"

He looked at me and that same smile from earlier returned. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You just look a bit different than usual. Did something about what Kiba said upset you?"

His eyebrows shot upwards. "What? No way! That's just how it always is between us. You know that."

I peered at his face uncertainly but he turned away from me. "Hey, we should catch up. If we let Kiba take all the credit for this mission, it'll make us look bad."

"Naruto, wait-"

I reached for his arm before he could pull away, but felt the fabric of his sleeve slip through my fingertips. Sending a burst of extra chakra to my legs to close the distance between us, I felt a sudden, sharp pain lance through my entire body.

It passed as quickly as it came, but it was enough to interrupt the flow of chakra reinforcing my limbs. When my feet next landed, they collapsed from under me and I hit the rooftops rolling. I was still at least three stories from the street below and the edge of the roof fast approached me.

Collecting my wits, I braced my arms and legs and applied a small amount of chakra to my hands and feet, molding it to take on a sticky adherence. The extra friction helped, but I'd already collected too much momentum. I went over the edge feet first, the air streaking around my body like a leaf caught in the wind. I cast my gaze downward and saw the street rushing up to meet me.

"Hinata-chan!"

I looked back up and saw a flash of orange in the infinite blue above. Naruto.

"Take my hand!"

I reached.

"Got you!"

We clasped hands and I felt my arm lurch back up independent of the rest of my body. The ligaments in my elbow buckled under the strain, but my descent halted. My leftover momentum sent me straight into the side of the building I'd been falling from, but I found it preferable to the alternative.

"Urgh…" I could hear the strain in Naruto's voice as he tried to hoist me back onto the roof. "You're heavier than you look, Hinata-chan…"

Being locked away in my counterpart's mind with no human contact for as long as I'd been, I was largely ignorant of many commonplace social niceties; but that comment struck me as unforgivably rude.

Though, considering the fact that Naruto had just saved my life, or at least saved me from a long, unpleasant stay in an infirmary, I was willing to let it slide.

For now.

"Can you pull me back up?"

"I'm trying," he grunted. I saw beads of sweat pooling on his forehead. "Just… hold on… Can you reach your kunai pack with your free hand?"

I tried. "Yes, but how does that help me?"

"Just toss a couple into the side of the wall," Naruto said. "You can use them as footholds. They probably won't support much weight, but they should make it easier to pull you back up."

I followed his suggestion.

"Okay, on three, try to jump up and climb over me. One… Two… THREE!"

Naruto pulled as hard as he could while I simultaneously pushed off from my makeshift footholds. I felt the kunai break away from the wall and fall from under me, but I was able latch my arms around Naruto's neck by then. He lay flat against the roof with part of his upper torso dangling over the edge.

"Just… a little… more!"

He pushed up with arms, teeth tightly clenched, and with a single final burst of energy, he gained enough leverage to reverse his legs from under him and fell backwards on his bottom with me still clutching his neck. I lay in a tangled mess on top of him, and we were both breathing hard.

"Hinata, Naruto! Are you all right?"

I lifted my head.

"Sensei…" I gasped, rolling to the side and onto my back. "We're… huff… we're fine."

"Fine," Naruto agreed. "Never… huff… better."

"What happened?" Kurenai-sensei demanded. "I saw the three of you in the distance. Why did Kiba break off from the group? And, Hinata, how did you stumble like that?"

Naruto and I both crawled to our feet and gave brief salutes to our team leader. I took a few extra moments to collect my thoughts, and my breath, before answering Kurenai-sensei. "Kiba went to scout ahead. I… don't know what happened to me. Suddenly my body just burst into pain."

Kurenai-sensei looked at me sharply. "Has that happened to you before?"

I shook my head. "No, never."

"Do you have any ideas as to the cause?"

I shook my head again. "None."

"Then I'm suspending you from active duty, pending an exam by a medical-nin."

I couldn't believe my ears. How could she even consider pulling me from my first mission? "Sensei, that won't be necessary! I'm certain it was nothing. Perhaps I've been pushing my body too hard recently. I'll be fine if I adjust to a more moderate pace."

"Hinata, that was a direct order. Report to the infirmary. Now."

Kurenai-sensei crossed her arms and looked at me expectantly. Judging from the hard expression of her face, I knew she would brook no argument from me.

But I did so anyway. Maybe, as Kiba had feared, Naruto's stubbornness was rubbing off on me.

"Sensei, with all due respect, I must ask that you reconsider. I cannot, in good conscience, abandon a mission on account of an inconvenient fluke of random chance. I am a shinobi of the leaf and the Hyuuga heir; I would never forsake my duty to my clan or my village."

Kurenai-sensei was unmoved. "I admire the nobility of your intentions, Hinata. However, by that same token, **I **cannot in good conscience allow you to needlessly endanger your own health."

"Please, sensei. The risk to my health is minimal. We're within the walls of Konoha and the nature of our mission doesn't require combat. I know my own body better than anyone. I can do this."

"Hinata…" Kurenai-sensei sighed, but didn't sound unsympathetic. "I understand how you feel, but you need to trust me. If Naruto hadn't caught you, you could have been seriously injured or killed. Maybe it's nothing, or maybe you have a serious condition. I don't know; I'm not a medic-nin. And neither are you. However, I think we're both aware that sudden spasms of pain with no apparent cause are not normal. Report to the hospital and get yourself checked out. If the staff gives you the all clear, then you can rejoin the team for this mission. That's an order. Understand?"

I suppose I should have known I couldn't win against Kurenai-sensei. I knew she was right, that no matter how small the risk it wasn't worth taking when I had so little to gain and already had almost lost everything.

That didn't make it any easier to accept, but orders were orders. "Yes, sensei."

Kurenai-sensei nodded with approval. "Good. You're going to be a great kunoichi someday, Hinata. Don't rush things."

"Yes, sensei," I repeated.

"Naruto, you're with me. We need to find Kiba and Akamaru and intercept Konohamaru before he disturbs his grandfather, assuming we aren't already too late."

"Okay, sensei. Umm, see you later, Hinata-chan."

When I saw Naruto and Kurenai-sensei turn to leave, I felt an unease stir in me. I was forgetting something. I'd come very close to potentially losing my life, but for the actions of one person.

"Sensei," I burted. "Could I have a moment with Naruto? I… want to thank him properly. For saving me."

I was half-expecting a refusal, but Kurenai-sensei smiled mysteriously and said, "Oh? I suppose there's no harm in that. Meet me in front of the Hokage's Tower when you're finished, Naruto."

I blinked, and when I next open my eyes, she'd been replaced with a whirl of falling leaves. It simply wasn't fair that she could do that.

But now wasn't the time to be impressed.

"Naruto."

I looked at my teammate. He didn't resemble anything like a proper ninja at all. His orange jumpsuit was too garish and attention catching, where a shinobi must blend into the shadows. His smiles came too easily. His eyes shone too brightly.

Yet that boy who never should have become a ninja deserved to wear his hitai-ate with pride, as much as any other shinobi of the Leaf.

And what of me? My first assignment and I'd nearly died from falling off a building. What an ignoble death for the proud heir of the Hyuuga clan. I couldn't help but chuckle. "It's only our first mission, Naruto, and you've already saved my life."

"It's no big deal," Naruto said, shifting uncomfortably. He ran a hand through his hair. "Iruka-sensei said we hold each other's lives in our hands, right? Well, I'm gonna hang on to yours real tight, Hinata-chan. I'll protect it with everything I've got. I promise."

I smiled wryly at him. "That's a very nice gesture, Naruto, but I'm hardly a damsel in distress."

"Yeah, I know…" Naruto muttered. "You're strong- stronger than me. But, even if I'm the class dunce and not very reliable, you can depend on me, Hinata-chan. I don't know what use I'd be, but if you're ever in trouble and need my help, I'll be there. You don't even have to ask. I know I talk like a big shot all the time, but I don't want you to think I'm trying to sound cool in front of you or anything. I just… want to do what I can, for my friend."

"That goes both ways, Naruto," I said seriously. "If you ever need anything, just say the word."

He only smiled at me, the same way he always did. "You've already given me enough."

No, I hadn't. I didn't know if I ever could. But there was one thing that my counterpart had always wanted to give Naruto. Maybe it wasn't mine to give. Maybe it was selfish of me to deny her that honor and take it for my own. But at that moment, I really didn't care.

I stood in front of Naruto and placed my hands on his sides. Then I pulled him close and held him in my arms.

"H-Hinata-chan?"

"Thank you, Naruto," I whispered. "For your friendship, and for my life, today."

I released him and withdrew. His face was flush with a shade of crimson even darker than after our exhausting drills with Kurenai-sensei the day prior, though I had no idea why. Then again, there were a great many things about Naruto that I still didn't understand.

"You should catch up with Kurenai-sensei and Kiba," I said. "I'll join you later, if I'm able to."

"Uh… o-okay…?"

Naruto nodded mechanically and turned to leave.

"Actually, there's just one more thing before you go."

He stopped in his tracks and turned again. "Y-yeah?"

"Just so we're clear," I said, walking over to him, "that gesture from a moment ago was to express my gratitude for saving my life."

I smiled. Then I slapped him.

"_That_ one was for calling me fat."

* * *

A\N: I know it's been a while since my last update, but here's the next chapter of the story at last. In terms of plot advancement, I know there's not a whole lot going on, but that's going to change very soon. The purpose of chapter 8 is primarily setup and character exposition. Go back and compare Yin Hinata with how she was back in chapter 2 and you'll see what I mean.

Just to clear things up: Yang Hinata's absence in recent chapters is a part of the plot. I haven't forgotten about her or abandoned her because her presence was no longer convenient.

For future updates, expect a turnaround time of about a month. Updating every three days just wasn't a sustainable pace.


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